


A football team for Sanditon?

by Lillyj



Category: Sanditon (TV 2019), Sanditon - Jane Austen
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-07
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:02:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 46,432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29263983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lillyj/pseuds/Lillyj
Summary: Tom Parker has arranged a football tournament to bring people to Sanditon, his brother Professional footballer, Sidney Parker is reluctant to help, but needs to.  As always, nothing is plain sailing in Sanditon.The characters here have taken a bit of an unconventional route, so if you don't like the way it is going, please stop reading rather than leaving nasty comments.  Also there is some bad language sorryThank you
Comments: 312
Kudos: 232





	1. Chapter 1

Charlotte hated being summonsed to Tom’s office, it was one of two things – a hair brained idea that was half thought through that she would have to magically make happen or a parent had made a donation and he just needed a little favour to find room for their child.

Charlotte knocked and waited for Tom to invite her in, she could see through this window he had someone else in there, so he was hoping that he would say he was too busy, and she could go, but no, he called her in, in that excited voice she had learned to dread. She opened the door, took a deep breath and walked in with her painted fake smile. 

“Hi Charlotte, I am so glad you could make it” he said standing and moving to greet her and more or less pushed her into a chair before moving to stand in front of the door.  
“You know my brother, don’t you?” he said laughing, then added, “Silly, me, EVERYONE knows my brother, he is so famous, and I am so proud of him”  
“I don’t see why” Charlotte said quietly. Tom either didn’t hear her or chose to ignore her, but his brother, sat next to her had heard every word.  
“What do you mean by that?” he snarled at her, moving slightly closer to the edge of his seat to intimidate her.  
“Exactly what I said” she snatched back, turning to face him. Sidney was not used to this direct confrontation, usually women fell at his feet.  
“Meaning” he continued, ignoring all that Tom was saying.  
“Well, let’s take yesterday’s headlines for a start, shall we?” Charlotte said.

Sidney narrowed his eyes at her, anger filling his features as he leaned forward even further so he was mere inches from her face. “You shouldn’t believe everything you read in the newspapers Miss?” he paused waiting for her to give him her name, but she didn’t. Charlotte held firm in her position.  
“So, you didn’t get drunk and trash the club on the weekend then?” she said, knowing full well that it was the truth as she had, in fact, been in the same club that the incident happened with her friend Georgiana. Mr Sidney Parker had tried his charm on her, and she had rebuffed him, so he turned then Georgiana, who was not interested either. Then Otis, Georgiana’s boyfriend had come and confronted Sidney, sparking the fight that had been slightly misrepresented in the press, but was still not painting Sidney Parker in a good light. 

“Right now, you two” Tom said cutting in and physically pushing them apart. “I need you two to get along”  
“Never going to happen” Sidney said.  
“Over my dead body” Charlotte added.  
“Well, that is not going to be an option. Sidney, your publicity agent, Diana”  
“Our sister” Sidney cut in,  
“Say’s if you want to see yourself play professional football again, you have to clean up your act, you are suspended from your team and you need to put on a good show to avoid jail for this latest incident”  
“Tom, if the next words out of your mouth are going to be what I suspect they are, I suggest you stop now, because there is no way on Gods earth that I am doing what you are thinking” Charlotte said, standing “And, judging by the look on your face, I think it better that I leave now!”

Sidney looked at his brother with confusion, as Tom moved toward the door to block Charlotte from leaving.  
“Now just hear me out, Charlotte, please, give me some credit, I do pay your wages after all”  
Charlotte took a step back but refused to sit. Sidney looked at his brother waiting for him to fill in the blanks. Charlotte turned to Sidney and spoke  
“If I know your brother, his next words are going to be – so I have decided that my brother will help you in running the children’s football team, it will show him a good light and help his career and his professional football skills will be highly appreciated by the youth of Sanditon” she then turned to face Tom, to see if she were correct. 

“Well, that is mostly what I was going to say, but also, I have invited some local children’s teams to come and stay in Sanditon at the end of August for a series of tournaments, Sidney will attract the guests and you Charlotte, will produce a world class football tournament” 

They both stared at Tom in disbelief, before Sidney finally spoke.  
“Not going to happen, I am not working with a woman on anything to do with the game of football, she knows nothing”  
“And I will not work with this chauvinist” Charlotte said, turning to face Sidney again, who was not also standing, the pair toe to toe ready for another round.  
“You will work together” Tom said, raising his voice, startling the pair. “Charlotte if you refuse, you can walk out of this office now and take you P45 with you and if you want to walk Sidney, you can finish your suspension and take your P45 from your team. That is the orders from above”  
“You mean Diana and Lady D” Sidney said.  
“Well, I will have words with Lady D myself, you cannot sack me over this” Charlotte said raising her voice in anger.  
“Look at that, Tom” Sidney said with a smile, “You let that vicious cat work with children, listen to her raising her voice when she can’t get her own way”  
Without a second thought, Charlotte slapped Sidney across the face, pushed Tom out of the way and opened the door, before turning back and adding.  
“I am off to see Lady D, you will have my resignation by the end of the day, and I expect my months’ notice as severance pay for this”

Sidney laughed as she left the office. “Well, where did you get that one?” he asked Tom.  
“Sidney, I am serious, she is one of the best staff we have, I will not lose her because of you and your ego. Get down off your high horse and apologise to her!”  
“Apologise to her?” Sidney raged “she slapped me!”  
“And you were rude about women and football, please Sidney, for me, your brother, please?”  
Sidney huffed, then asked  
“What is in it for me?”  
“Well from what Diana tells me, the owner of the club is pressing serious charges and as this is not your first drunken rage, you could be looking at a prison sentence, let’s call it a show of community service and a chance at being back on the football field next season”  
“If she gets time to consider it, then so do I” Sidney said walking out of the office, knowing full well that on this point, at least, his brother was correct 

Charlotte walked over to lady D’s, the clifftop walk over would give her time to calm down and clear her head. She could not believe that Parker family sometimes, but they were the major employers in the town and if she did give her notice, then she would have to move from Sanditon to find a new job and she loved the kids that she worked with and couldn’t bear to let them down. She could see their little faces as they turned up tomorrow after school to train on the sand, now that the weather had turned, all full of energy and excitement, having fun doing their exercises then kicking the ball around to each other seeing the fun side of the game. They were eight years old, they needed to keep some of the magic of the game they loved, nearly all of them in their Sidney Parker, hometown hero shirts.  
“Oh, can you imagine, Sidney Parker turning up to training tomorrow and seeing twenty kids in his shirts, the man would eat himself, he already considers himself chocolate” she said aloud as she walked, grateful that there was no one else walking on the cliffs to hear her. Charlotte stopped on the top of the cliffs and sat for a moment on a rock to stare out at the view that she had now implanted in her mind, already feeling herself relax.

“It should be the eighth wonder of the world” a voice behind her said, a voice that she wanted to never hear again, but it seemed that today would be a day of no escape.  
“What do you want Parker?” she snapped.  
“I know this is the way to Lady D’s so thought I might bump into you”  
“Hoping to throw me off the cliff is it? Do your best, I would love for you to be locked in prison for murder and have my ghost haunt you for the rest of your miserable days”  
“You aren’t going to make this easy for me, are you?”  
“Make what easy for you” she said, finally turning to face him as he sat himself just out of arms reach from her.  
“Look Charlotte, I need this to work”  
“For your career and ego, not for the children, who at the end of the day, is who I am doing this for”  
“Yes, for my career, but it won’t hurt you to learn from a professional so that you can at least teach the kids something useful not just kicking a ball about like you women think is all we do. It will help your career too”

Charlotte stood; her anger had returned.  
“How dare you? you selfish, egotistical, arrogant, prick. You know nothing about me, or the way I work. You walk up here and disturb my quiet time, asking me not to make it difficult for you, to save your arse, while criticising and putting down me with what you assume to know about me”  
“Excuse me” Sidney said, joining her on her feet “But you have also made assumptions about me too and what you think happened at a club, that is way out of your league, but you still feel you are qualified to judge me”  
“Oh, is that what you think?” Charlotte said, taking phone out of her pocket and bringing up a photo from her Friday night out. 

Charlotte turned the phone to face Sidney, showing him the photograph of her, with Georgiana and Otis. 

“If anything, I know first-hand exactly what happened, so I believe I have made NO assumptions about you”  
Sidney stood, open mouthed as Charlotte stormed off in the direction of Lady D’s. He watched her walk until she was out of sight, then his phone pinged a text message. He looked at the screen – Tom “Hope it’s going well” Sidney sighed, trying to decide his next move. It could not be prison and this girl held the key to that in more ways than one now, she could give him a chance at the community goodwill, and she was a key witness in the case against him.


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, our couple haven't hit each other but there's a shock coming for our Sidney

“Charlotte, please believe me, I am not entirely happy about the situation either, but I am in an impossible position, I need to protect my investment and Sidney Parker is a big draw to the area, but I also know that my investment relies on you and your hard work, you are one of my most treasured and trusted employees, you will blow this tournament out of the park, not to mention how much the kids need you. Please don’t do anything rash, think of him as one of your children, not as an adult, if you treat him like the petulant child he is, you will get a lot further. Trust me, I have known him since he was a boy” Charlotte said, clearly unimpressed not to have Lady D’s backing on this  
“And I bet he put a ball through your window more than once”  
“Twice actually, once in the greenhouse, my husband made him and tom and two of their friends rake leaves from the lawn for four hours, the second was the summer house during a garden party, but his parents were present then and it did not go down well with them, made them pay it back out their pocket money, poor boy cried for a month over that one”   
Charlotte grinned at the story, then considered his present situation.  
“I guess he now thinks that money is the answer to everything, he earns more in a week than I do in a year, he thinks he can but his way out of everything”  
“Give him a chance Charlotte, how about a compromise, give him a month, that is just eight training sessions, if he has made no improvement, I shall have him gone”   
“For you Lady D, I will, at least you are prepared to see that his attitude towards me was unacceptable, but I do expect an apology before he attends tomorrow or he out now”  
“Very well Charlotte, I shall see what I can do, but I do feel that his apology would mean more coming from him, not from us telling him it is what he should do”  
“Agreed, but I shall take what I can get for now. Thank you, Lady D, see you on the weekend no doubt”  
“Oh yes, Charlie and I shall be down to the beach to see you all hard at it” she smiled as Charlotte got to her feet and left.

Charlotte was walking back across the clifftops to town, hoping that Sidney Parker had up and left, she took her phone out and rang Tom.  
“Charlotte, my darling”  
“Cut the crap Tom, I will take that man child to work with me on one condition and this is NOT negotiable”  
“Name it Charlotte”  
“Any complaints from parents, and I mean ANY, they are yours to deal with. I am not having it said that this was my idea. Your brother, your responsibility”  
“Done”  
“Fine” 

That was an easier fight than she had expected. She was about to say goodbye and hang up when Tom added.

“Everyone loves Sidney, he is our local star, famous footballer and all that, no one is going to complain, easiest deal I have ever made” then he hung up before Charlotte could get a word in. 

Once again today, the Parker brothers had got her back up. Charlotte had planned on stopping on her rock again on the way back, until she saw Sidney parker up ahead taking selfies with a group of young girls, far too young for him, but he was obviously enjoying the attention. Hopefully, they would turn up on the beach for training and he would get distracted off with them and leave her in peace. 

Charlotte had just passed the crowd of adoring fans with their superstar when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She knew who it would be and sighed before turning to face him.   
“What?” she snapped.  
“I have made a decision” Sidney said proudly, before waving at his fans again.  
“And?”  
“And what?”  
“And nothing, you have made a decision, well done, you have grown another brain cell since our last meeting, congratulations, now I have things to do” Charlotte said in frustration, she turned her back on him and continued on her way.

“Do you want to know what it is?” he asked catching up to her.  
“Not really” she said dismissively and carrying on walking.  
“I will work with you” he said  
“Ok” came her reply, much to his despair  
“OK?”   
“Yes, ok”  
“Are you not pleased to have me help you out?”  
“Not really”  
“Do you want to know why I am agreeing?”  
“Not really”  
“Well, I will tell you anyway!” he said, moving in front of her to stop her walking any further. 

“What’s the matter Parker, can’t walk and talk at the same time? I know why you are helping remember”  
“Do you now, pray tell?” he stood, hands on his hips like one of her petulant children at training who doesn’t want to warm up first.  
“Because it saves your neck, because you want to sweet talk me into not giving evidence to the police, because you want to be admired like a god on the beach by anyone passing and because your siblings are forcing your hand”  
“No”  
“Really? Surprise me then!”  
“Well, those points, yes, but also, because I figure you have good legs in those shorts and you have good trainers, so you must know a little something and it is my duty as a professional footballer to educate women in the art of the game”

Charlotte laughed hysterically at this and Sidney looked at her bewildered. When she caught her breath, she said   
“Oh, so you are jealous of my legs in a pair of shorts, that is the best yet” and she walked around him and picked up her pace to a bit of a jog so as to gain some space from him. 

Sidney took his phone out and rang his brother.  
“She accepted my apology, I complimented her legs, women like that see, she’s up for it, it’s all good”  
“She’s up for it? Sidney, please do not sleep with her, whatever you do! I do not need this on top of everything else”  
“My God Tom, step back a minute, I wouldn’t sleep with her if you paid me, I mean she’s up for me teaching her and the kids about football”  
“You are not teaching them; you are helping her coach them”  
“Well, whatever you want to call it to keep her happy, we’re the new dream team. She’ll be begging for my help by the end of the week, just you watch” 

Tom rang Diana with an update  
“Well, he’s agreeing to do the coaching with the kids, Charlotte is not keen, but Lady D has smoothed things over for now, but we need to keep a serious eye on out superstar, I cannot have anything happening to tarnish his name now before my tournament, Sanditon is depending on him, I am depending on him”   
“Brother remember that he is already tarnished, I agree with damage control, and this will be great publicity for his career and for Sanditon, but you said that this girl would be good for him and calm him. What is the problem here and how do we control it?”  
“Let’s just say she slapped him inside of ten minutes after he slagged off her football knowledge BECAUSE she is a girl”  
“Oh, then he doesn’t know she played for England ladies before her surgery?”  
“He has no idea at all”


	3. Three

“Hello kids, who is ready to do some running to warm up?” Charlotte said to the children as they gathered around her on the beach.   
“Me” came a gaggle of children’s voices. 

Charlotte took a look around the beach, but there was no sign of Sidney Parker, she was not surprised that he hadn’t shown up and felt a little foolish for being so worried about the situation. 

“So, let’s run from the cones for these goals to the cones for the other goals.” Charlotte said smiling. This was her happy place and she loved being here with the children on the sand and with their innocence and enthusiasm.   
One by one, they started running to the other side of the made-up pitch. A couple of the regular parents were stood as normal at the far end of the pitch, whilst they talked to each other, they also encouraged the children as they ran toward them. Charlotte jogged behind them keeping their pace.  
After they had run up and back once, they stopped to do ten star jumps. It wasn‘t a full-size pitch but was big enough for their age and the sand gave them a softer landing if they tripped over, though as the sand was wet, it did not get kicked up into their faces as they ran.

“Looking good” a familiar voice came from behind her.  
“Nice of you to show” she said sarcastically.  
“Oh, were you talking to me?” Sidney said as he sauntered up in a pair of shorts and a tight-fitting T-shirt. “I was talking to the ladies here, if you told me there would be some yummy mummy’s here, I would have signed up before now” he added as he came closer to Charlotte. She rolled her eyes.

Charlotte decided to ignore his comment, he was slowly draining all of her rewarding feelings of this role. Charlotte continued directing the children, whilst Sidney wandered back over to the parents so he could talk to them. The mothers drooled over him, while the fathers wanted to be best friends with the famous footballer. At least it gave Charlotte some peace from his behaviour and his company, she just hoped he would not try to distract the children. 

Charlotte jogged down the side of the pitch with the children as they dribbled the ball in and out of some new cones she had set up and were passing the ball to the next player at the end of the setup. She cheered and encouraged them and occasionally stepped in with some guidance. Sidney half watched her at work, not particularly impressed by her skill and proceeded to tell the parents that he would be taking over the team soon and could they imagine how blessed their children would be, to have him as their coach and manager. Charlotte rolled her eyes again as she listened to him.

“Sidney Parker, would you like to take over the training for a while now for this session, show the parents and the children, your skills, a sneak peak of what they can expect from you.” Charlotte shouted over.   
“You are doing very well Charlotte, thank you for following my plan” he shouted back.  
Charlotte seethed with anger. How dare he diminish her hard work and how dare the parents believe that he was the key to the team after all the work she had put in over the last six months.

“Let’s get lined up and practice our goal shooting, three shots each then we can have a little match ready for Saturday.” She shouted to the children blowing her whistle and causing Sidney to jump.  
“Sorry. I did not realise you were stood so close” she said, looking back over her shoulder to him, hearing his little shriek. She smiled with pleasure at his reaction, feeling some small reward for her whistle.   
“Let me show the children how to shoot at goal, after all I am a top-class footballer who actually knows how to score goals and has scored many a goal. I am sure you will learn as much from my talent as the children will.” He said loudly for all to hear as he walked toward Charlotte. “You really should be concentrating on planning the tournament, which is obviously what you will do best” he added, smiling broadly.

Charlotte did not comment again, merely held a hand out to offer him the pitch. Sidney strode across the pitch with an heir of authority, taking the ball from the boy at the front of the queue. He turned to face the young lad in between the goal posts and spoke to him.  
“I don’t expect you to stop this goal, try not to get too excited facing a star, just take a couple of deep breaths and pretend it is one of your teammates” 

Turning to face the goal, he took a bit of a run up and aimed the ball at the goal. He kicked it hard and the young boy made a dive to his left just missing the ball, so it bounced of his hand and jumped into the goal. Everyone cheered, except Charlotte.   
“Come on the Callum, you’re up next, take the ball from Mr Parker and let us work our way through the team or we’ll not have time to play a quick game before the end of training” she said, trying to bring the session back to the children.   
The young lad Callum hesitated, he did not want to take the ball from Sidney, who had retrieved it from Robbie at the goal and was now doing kick ups to show off to his audience.   
Seeing his hesitation, Charlotte kicked a new ball to him and instructed the boys to carry on around Sidney. 

“How about you take a rest there, Charlotte, let me show these kids what to do” Sidney said, taking control of the boys who were in their element having their favourite football star in front of them, oblivious to his behaviour and reputation off the pitch. Charlotte was frustrated, but unlike him, she did not want to make a scene in front of the parents so allowed him to do his thing. She would pull him to the side at the end, when they had all left and give him a piece of her mind.

The training finally came to an end. Charlotte instructed the boys as to what time to attend Saturday for the match on the grass pitch that they used on the school field. Charlotte said goodbye to the children and parents and was pleased to see her good friend James heading toward her.   
“Hi James,” she said, greeting him warmly  
“Hey Charlotte” he replied, smiling, then he noticed Sidney Parker. He watched Sidney, who was watching Charlotte as she wandered round collecting the cones and balls. Sidney was obviously checking her body out, which made James quite angry.   
“Do you need a hand” James shouted as he got closer, close enough for Sidney to know he was there  
“I am quite alright thanking you” Sidney said to James, turning to face him smiling.  
“I was asking Charlotte” James said,   
“Ah, no need to worry about the little lady, she’ll be fine, women are great at clearing up” 

James felt himself getting angry, he wondered how Charlotte was coping with this idiot and why he was hanging around her.   
“Sidney Parker” Sidney said introducing himself and holding a hand out to shake “But of course you would know that it is the downside of my fame”  
“I have no idea who you are, I am a rugby man myself” James said dismissing him, “I only bother with football when it is for Charlotte” he added, seeing Sidney narrow his eyes at him.  
“Well, you will learn nothing from her, she knows very little about football, I am going to take her to coffee tomorrow to try and teach her the rules” Sidney said, and James laughed.  
“What is so funny?” Sidney asked, confused at James’s reason for his hysterics.  
“You seriously have no idea who she is do you?” James said, bemused.  
“Should I?” Sidney said, “I hear she’s good at planning, is she a failed wedding planner or something, running round with children in this sleepy town, feeling sorry for herself.” Sidney added a little patronising laugh at his own comment.   
“I suggest you google Charlotte Heywood before you invite her to talk rules of football” James said and picked up the two bags from the floor and headed to Charlotte to help her pack the kit away leaving Sidney stood there confused. 

Charlotte and James, walked back to the lock up where they stored the kit talking, carrying a bag each.  
“How’s the shoulder?”   
“Not too bad thanks, getting stronger, but this scar is just so ugly” she said  
“It will start to fade, and it isn’t ugly to me” James said, wishing she would believe him.  
“You are such a good friend, James” Charlotte said, cutting into his heart as she used the ‘friend’ word again. “Pub? Its curry and a pint night?”   
“How can I refuse?” he smiled, and they headed off to the pub. 

Sidney took his phone out as he sat in his car. He clicked on the search engine and typed in Charlotte’s name. He was horrified at what he discovered and immediately rang Diana shouting down the phone when she answered.


	4. Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A chance to learn a little more about Charlotte,

Charlotte was up early, despite her one pint in the pub with James last night, and went for her morning run, she ran across the beach and up to the clifftops, where she sat for a rest on the rock before reversing her journey back home. She was just about to start her return, when she sensed someone behind her, she took a deep breath hoping it wasn’t Sidney Parker, but her luck was not that good and she found herself face to face with the arrogant man, who actually looked surprisingly toned standing with his top off.  
“What do you want?” she snapped at him, not in the mood for his attitude on her morning run.  
“Tried to make a fool out of me and thought you would get away with it did you?” he said, still angry.  
“I have no idea what you are talking about, so if you don’t mind, I shall be on my way”  
“Don’t try and play me Heywood” he said putting his arm out to stop her pass and catching her shoulder. Charlotte winced. “Don’t try the dramatics, I barely touched you” he added, seeing her face.

Charlotte was now livid with him, she had no idea what she had done to make him so angry, but now he had caught her shoulder, she had moved from frustrated to beyond angry. Without a word, she moved past him and began to run again away from him.   
“You can run, but you can’t hide” he shouted after her. She did not turn back, or reply, tears of anger filled her eyes, and she ran and ran until she felt some relief. 

Charlotte slowed to a walk as she got by her flat, she was about to let herself in, when her phone rang.  
“Hi Charlotte, it’s Tom”  
“Hi Tom”   
“Are you busy?”  
“Just arrived back from my run. Is something wrong?”  
“I don’t know what happened last night at the training session, but Sidney is not happy, I need to you play fair with him, whatever you said or did to upset him last night, I need you to fix it, can you just apologise?”  
“Hang on a minute Tom, nothing happened last night, he turned up, he showed off, he left me to pack up and he left, then I see him this morning on my run and he’s screaming how I humiliated him. I have no idea what’s got his back up, I have barely spoken to him. I refuse to apologise for something I haven’t even done!”  
“Charlotte, look, I need your help, I admit my Sidney can be a little hard to handle, he needs sometimes reminding that Sanditon is not a football stadium, can you please just smooth things over with him, I need him to get his image right or he’s out of the team”  
“Not until he apologises first, or at least tells me what it is he thinks I have done wrong. I am sorry Tom, but I am standing my ground on this one. Email me the teams you have invited to this tournament and I will get on with organising things from our end”  
“Charlotte please”  
“Sorry Tom, NO, goodbye” she hung up and slid down the back of the front door to be seated on the floor. It was just 9am and she was exhausted already and done with the day. 

She had sat there for what felt like an hour, it had in fact been a mere ten minutes. She stood and took herself off to the shower. She peeled her top off and saw that her scar was red again where Sidney had caught it and it was sore, she felt like it was another setback in her recovery, or what she could make of it. The injury that had ruined her football career at the youthful age of 22. She tried not to think about it, but it replayed in her head over and over again, that frightful night as a passenger in the car seeing the racer in his ‘too hot to handle’ sport machine, racing toward them, losing control and hitting her side of the car, the door crumpling and pinning her in, the hour that it took for the emergency services to get her out, the fear and the pain being stuck there. The driver of the other car hadn’t even stuck around to see what he had done, he just left. The police said the driver must have been wearing gloves as it was reported stolen early the next morning when the owner noticed it was missing. Charlotte had undergone two surgeries on her shoulder, had shards of glass removed that had pierced the skin, her hip had been dislocated but that had healed nicely, but she would never play professional football ever again as she could not risk her shoulder being knocked if she was ever deemed fit enough to play again. Ten months later, she was still struggling, her last surgery being just eight weeks ago. Charlotte let the water of the shower run over her as she cried with the memory of the accident and how it still made her feel. Her friend and teammate walked away unhurt, and they drifted apart with Charlotte not playing any longer. 

Sidney seethed in anger as he watched her walk away from him. He could not believe she had not told him that she played professional football until about six months ago, he had seen something about a car accident ending her career, but all failed footballers had an excuse as to why they stopped playing so young. He wasn’t interested in her sob story, but she should have told him she had played. She had made him look stupid in front of all of those parents when he made out, she knew nothing, they obviously all knew she knew a thing or two and he hated being made to look the fool, though it seemed to be a reoccurring thing these days. Saying things that got him in trouble with the press and now being forced into this community children’s stuff to make him look like a saint. The sooner it was over the better and he could get out of this poxy little town and back to his life. They only had two pubs and one night club in the town and even that club was not what you would call trendy, no wine bar, no tapas bar, everything was closed by half two in the morning. He was used to going out on a Saturday after a match with the lads and rolling in around seven on his day off. He got bought drinks back home and never had to pay to get in anywhere, he was respected back home, whereas here, there was nothing trendy about the place. 

Sidney finished his run across the beach, still topless and he took advantage of the girls who were waving at him and smiling. He wasn’t really that interested but maybe one of them would do for a night or two before he went back home for preseason training with his team. He knew they were threatening to put him in up for transfer, but he was a wanted man, he could take his pick, maybe he would try Barcelona or Juventus, move abroad for a while, he thought as he slowed to a walk to make sure the girls got a good look at his chest. 

When he arrived home, he got in the shower and planned the rest of his day in his head. Next stop, coffee and not the jar of ‘whatever’ that Tom had left in his kitchen cupboard of this matchstick box flat. He could fit this whole flat in his lounge back home. Tom was even threatening not to let the cleaning staff come in and sort the place out, it was tiny, it wouldn’t take them long. Sidney got out of the shower and moved to the living room wearing just his towel. He slid open the patio doors, at least the place had a sea view. He could hear singing; it was a female voice, and it was amazing. He didn’t know there were any other stars staying in Sanditon, he would have to seek this person out. He stepped out onto the small decking area that came off the flat, the singing appeared to be coming from the flat next door, he turned to see their patio doors also open, and he was sure this beautiful voice was coming from there. He listened for a moment, enjoying the sweet sound, it appeared to be coming closer, he turned away so as not to make it obvious he was listening and was shocked to see Charlotte Heywood step out onto the decking of the next door flat. He was horrified that she was so close, but he was speechless that she had such a wonderful singing voice. He stepped back to the door quickly so as to escape her, but he caught his toe on the runner for the door, screamed, dropped his towel and then embarrassed he fell in through the door before she saw that he was completely naked. 

Charlotte was only disturbed by the sound of the scream; she turned and caught the back end of someone who appeared to be naked falling through the door. She stepped closer and glanced over, noticing the towel on the floor, she figured it must have dropped when whoever it was hurt themselves. She leaned closer.  
“Hey, are you alright in there?”  
“All good” a voice shouted; a voice that sounded familiar  
“Do you need me to come over and give you a hand, are you injured”  
“I said I’m fine” the voice snapped back. Sidney Parker, why on earth had Tom put him in the flat next to hers. Charlotte for a moment was glad he had hurt himself, but that soon turned to guilt, she knew what hurt was and she didn’t actually want him hurt. She moved back to the chair that was on her decking and sat down to enjoy a glass of grapefruit juice in the morning sun, before starting on her work.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maybe Sidney is human after all?!

Sidney sat at his laptop on a video call to some of his teammates.   
“You should see the woman they have me working with, she is impossible, she is going out of her way to make me look stupid. I just don’t know what to do with her” Sidney said  
“A woman?” Crowe asked, “I thought you were doing some youth football thing”  
“Women can play football too” Babington said, “Some of them are pretty good, we had a fair England ladies team last year”  
“She’s one of them” Sidney said, with a sigh  
“An England ladies’ player?” Edward asked  
“Yeah, well some wannabe anyway, quit a few months back, couldn’t hack it”  
“What’s her name?” Crowe asked, “I’ll look her up”  
“Charlotte Heywood” Sidney said.  
“Hey, I have to go, someone at the door” Edward said knocking his connection off.  
“She’s was one to watch” Babington said “She was in an accident with Clara Brereton, she took the worst of it, cut her short, Clara walked away scot free, but her guilt has knocked her performance too”  
“So, she didn’t just quit then?”  
“No, she was pretty badly hurt, sounds like she’s pretty bitter too if she’s trying to screw you up” Babington said  
“Yeah, she must be, I don’t know if I can put up with her much longer” Sidney said. At that moment, Sidney also had a knock at the door, “Hey my door going now, catch you later, good luck for the game tomorrow” he added and disconnected the call.   
He went to the door, to find Diana stood there and she didn’t look happy.

“Hey Diana, good to see you”  
“What the hell is going on here?” she asked,   
“What do you mean?”  
“You ring me last night screaming like a madman down the phone, then you obviously rang Tom, he’s been on the phone in a panic because Charlotte is claiming she doesn’t know what she has done wrong and refusing to apologise and you have told him you refuse to work with her until she does!”  
“Yeah, that, well there may have been a misunderstanding”  
“On who’s part”  
“Maybe on mine”

“Wait a minute, let me grab my diary out of my bag, I need to note this date down, Sidney Parker, the man himself, actually admitting that he may have made a mistake”   
“Wow now, Diana, that is a little dramatic don’t you think?”  
“Don’t I think?” she said, placing her hands on her hips. “I am not the one who has been screaming down the phone like a spoilt brat that some girl is trying to make me look like an arse”  
“I think you’ll find I said she’s trying to make me look like a prick”  
“Same thing” Diana dismissed his statement. “You insist on having her apologise and my job as public relations for the team is to make sure she’s not going to make you look like a prick in public. Give me full details and I will have to try and smooth things over. Any idea what it will take to pay her off? Money? Jewellery?”

“None of that” Sidney said, lowering his head  
“That looks like you are ashamed of something” Diana said pointing her finger at Sidney and lifting her arm up and down. “I need to add that to the diary too, another first”  
“Well, I was pissed that she didn’t tell me she played professional football, everyone here knows, and she let me shout off about being a professional and teaching her a thing or two and now everyone is laughing at me and I kind of took it out on her”  
“Well, that is where you are wrong dear boy”  
“What do you mean?” Sidney said raising his head to look at her.

“She was a pro, a bloody good pro, she could have knocked you out of the park with her talent. She got pretty gnarled up in a bad crash, driver did a runner, can’t tell you who the car belonged to, data protection, but you know him, I don’t know if he was driving and ran or if it was stolen as he claimed. She came here after her first surgery to rest and recover as no one knew who she was, she was pretty cut up about losing everything. She had her second surgery two months ago on her shoulder, not sure how successful it was”  
“That explains the face” Sidney said, ashamed once more.  
“What have you done? I hope you haven’t shot your mouth off about who she is, the only people who know are me, Tom and her friend James, he’s her physio following all the surgery”

“I haven’t shouted it at anyone, except you and Tom and to her face, I may have threatened her, then I nudged her in her shoulder, but I didn’t know she had had surgery”  
“Then you owe her an apology for touching her, that is not how we play here Sidney, and I suggest you keep her secret unless she chooses to tell people, she’s been through enough and I have tried damn hard to keep this out of the media for her protection. Then if she owes you an apology, she can give it”  
“I don’t think she does, but she thinks I am a complete arse, so she won’t accept my apology. Can you help Diana?”  
“No, but make it honest, give her something meaningful”  
“A signed shirt?”  
“Dear God, give me strength!”  
“Insensitive?”  
“You think?”  
“Flowers?”  
“Better, be sincere, if she won’t listen put a card on the flowers, say it with words”  
“Say what? I’m a prick, forgive me?”  
“Well, it’s honest, it certainly won’t hurt” Diana said laughing   
“I was joking Di”  
“I wasn’t hop to it”

Sidney started walking toward the door, then he turned back  
“Have you heard her sing?”  
“No”  
“If she was half as good at football as she is at singing, she was gold” he said with a smile. Diana pulled her diary out of her bag,   
“First genuine compliment given since age five, first genuine smile since age eight”  
“What happened to me age eight?”  
“You found out Father Christmas wasn’t real little brother” she said sadly. “Now go, be the better person here, start to build a bridge”


	6. Six

Sidney walked down to the town and the shops, it was not a far walk, a mere fifteen minutes, but his mind was distracted. He stood looking at the rows of shops either side of the road. He had never actually bought flowers for anyone before and was unsure where to begin, he usually got one of the girls from the club to do it. He started on the left-hand side of the road, as he was already on that side and walked slowly past the row of shops. He found a coffee shop two doors in,  
“Real coffee” he said aloud and walked into the shop. 

He noticed people looking at him and he brought out his winning smile, normal service was resumed and as he chatted and was asked for selfies, he felt more at ease and soon forgot how he had felt about the incident with Charlotte. He got to the counter and ordered, the girl at the till insisted it was on the house, it wasn’t everyday they had a superstar in their little coffee shop she had said. Sidney could not argue with her, he could not imagine anyone with his status would descend on this little town unless they were forced to. Taking his coffee, and feeling his spirits boosted, he walked outside and noticed a shop directly across from where he stood, with rows of potted plants on a stand outside. “Flowers” he said, remembering his primary goal and crossed the road to buy one.

“Good choice” the shop keeper said when he went inside, “the don’t need a lot of watering, easy to keep alive, they do well in a bathroom or kitchen, it’s the moisture you see, like being in their native desert”  
“Thanks, it’s for the woman next door”  
“That’s kind of you, I like to see the youngsters looking out for their older neighbours and we love the cacti”   
“Hopefully it will cheer her up”   
“Oh yes, a flowering cactus always brightens up the place” he said with a smile. He took the money for the plant and returned the change to Sidney, oblivious to who he was. Sidney left, thinking how the old man reminded him of that shopkeeper with the stutter from the sitcom on the television he had watched growing up, even down to the brown coat and white hair. He would have to see if he could find the name later. (Arkright, Open all hours) 

Sidney continued to wander down past the shops browsing in the windows and stopping to take selfies with people as they saw him in the street. He was comfortable being this Sidney, the one in the public eye that everyone loved. He did not want to be that vulnerable Sidney again who had to admit to his sister and public relations agent that he may have made a mistake and he was not looking forward to an apology directly to Charlotte when he got back. Sidney had now finished his coffee and disposed of the cup in a nearby bin, so with just the cactus he was still holding, he decided he should go and get this task over so that he could get on with the rest of his day. 

When he arrived back at the flat, he could see that Diana had locked up and gone, he went to the patio doors and slid it open, stepping out onto the decking, he moved to the fence between their accommodation and could see that Charlotte’s door was also still open.  
“Hey Charlotte” he shouted across the fence. Charlotte came to the door.  
“I have nothing to say to you” she said, then stepped back and went to shut the door.  
“Wait, listen then!”  
“Make it quick I am busy” she snapped, still standing inside her own door so he could not see her.  
“I got you this cactus” he said, placing it on the fence.  
“Thank you,” she said and shut the door.

“Well, that didn’t go to plan” he said to himself, leaving the cactus on the fence for her. He assumed she would come and retrieve it once he had left, so he went back inside, he found a scrap of paper and wrote a note ‘Truce?’ then returned and stuck it to the spines of the cactus before leaving it again. 

Charlotte watched him suspiciously, curiosity wanted to know what he had written on the note. She waited ten minutes then went outside to see it  
“Truce?” she said aloud and angry, “Over my dead body” she stormed inside with the note and wrote one of her own.  
‘I suppose this is your way of insulting me further, you think I am spikey like a cactus and I belong in the desert away from civilisation?’ she went outside and stuck it to the cactus and left it. 

After hearing Charlotte’s response to the note, Sidney sighed, this was going from bad to worse, he popped his head out of the door and could see a larger piece of paper stuck to the cactus. He retrieved it and read it, then went back inside to find another piece of paper.  
‘Not what I meant, but at least we’re communicating! Maybe we can talk?’   
He took it outside and placed it on the cactus, he could see that her door was not fully closed, and he waited by his door hoping to catch her when she came out to retrieve this next note. He waited fifteen minutes then gave up and moved to see what his options were for lunch, Tom, or more likely Mary, had got some food in for him, but he was not really any good in the kitchen. He took some bread that was in the cupboard and placed two slices in the toaster, then he returned to the patio to discover the cactus gone and a bowl of pasta in its place. He smiled, took the pasta and returned to the kitchen to fetch a fork. 

Charlotte needed a break, she finished her pasta, placed her new cactus on the bathroom window and slipped her flip flops on for a walk on the beach. She was not prepared to forgive him, or have a conversation, but she would not see the man starve, he was obviously not house trained and he at least was trying. 

Sidney heard the door go next door and figured Charlotte was heading out, he toyed with the idea of following her, but he couldn’t bring himself too, perhaps he had a conscience after all. Then his phone rang, which aided his decision to stay at home, it was his brother Arthur.  
“Sidney, how is the seaside? Are you behaving?”  
“I always behave!” Sidney laughed  
“That’s not what I hear!”  
“Oh yea? What is in the rumour mill now?” Sidney asked, deflated. He wasn’t even near the club and people were still talking about him. Normally he didn’t care, but today, everything was getting to him  
“I hear you went showing off to some young fit thing and got your arse bitten”  
“It wasn’t quite like that”  
“It never is, that’s why I rang you”  
“I may have told the girl I am helping that I would show her a thing or two about football, give her the chance to learn from the best and it turns out she may be an ex professional footballer herself” 

Arthur fell about laughing, Sidney could imagine him, his face going red as he tried to catch his breath, his shoulders shaking, tears streaming from his eyes. He loved anything that made him laugh, and it was usually at Sidney’s expense.  
“You have to remember that you are not God, my dear brother”  
“That’s pretty much what Diana said”  
“I know!”  
“So that is your rumour mill”  
“No comment. Who is she?”  
“Charlotte Heywood”

“No way! Are you serious? She is amazing, she was the top goal scorer last season, she has one hell of a talent, at the top of her game, then poof, she vanished of the face of the earth. What is she doing in Sanditon? Can you get her autograph for me?”  
“She got injured, but I don’t think she will give you an autograph, well not through me, she won’t speak to me”  
“Because you are an arse?”  
“No, not because I am an arse, because I shouted at her and”  
“And what?”  
“I may have threatened her and”  
“Please, I don’t think I can hear anymore”  
“I may have humiliated her in front of all of the parents of the children we were training”

Arthur paused, he wondered how he could be related to someone so bloody insensitive.  
“Apologise! Now!”  
“I bought her a cactus and stuck a post-it note on it”  
“A cactus?”  
“Diana said flowers, it was in a flowerpot, what is wrong with a cactus?”  
“It is prickly and comes from the desert, none of that sounds friendly”  
“She took it, she won’t speak to me or listen to an apology, but she took it off the wall”

“You really need someone to slap you round the face”  
“I think she might if I try to speak to her again”  
“Good, oh and by the way Edward Denham has gone AWOL. Didn’t turn up to training, not answering his phone, if you see him let your coach know, will you?”  
“Sure, that’s strange though”  
“Yeah, I’ll keep you updated, got to go, I have to check on Robbo’s hamstring”  
“Ok, bye bro”


	7. Seven

Charlotte called Georgiana from the beach.  
“Hey sister, what’s new?” Georgiana said on answering the phone.  
“If I drown myself at sea, will you say something good about me at my funeral?”  
“Depends, will you record a few songs for me to play?”  
“You know I don’t sing for anyone to hear!”  
“Except me!”  
“Except you”  
“So who or what’s got you drowning”  
“Ah George, you won’t believe it if I tell you”  
“Try me babe”

Charlotte took a deep breath  
“You know that prick Friday night who tried it on with me?”  
“Then me” Georgiana added  
“Yes, we’ll he’s only bloody Tom’s brother”  
“Your boss Tom? With the famous football brother?”  
“That’s him”  
“Ah, explains the suit”  
“Doesn’t it just, though he likes to be topless here for his drooling fans”

“He’s in Sanditon?”  
“Worse than that he’s been forced to help me with the kids football for some community work, trying to keep him out of jail from Friday”  
“No way!”  
“And Tom has only bloody put him in the flat next door!” She exclaimed  
“He called me some choice names I can tell you then bought me a cactus to apologise”  
“A cactus?”  
“A cactus!”  
“Proves he’s a prick. Cactus is covered in pricks”

“George, I need to tell you something. But I need you to promise to keep it a secret. Can I trust you?”  
“Did you sleep with him after the club?” Georgiana said in a high pitched voice  
“Hell no! I might be crazy but I’m not stupid”  
“Ok, have you slept with James? Cos he’s pretty hot and he really likes you!”  
“George I’ve not slept with anyone, for about a year actually”  
“A whole year?”  
“Just over”  
“So you’re practically a virgin”  
“Listen, stop distracting me with your one track mind”  
“Hey Charl, you’ve met my Otis, how can I think of anything else?” Georgiana giggled. 

Charlotte sighed “please Georgiana” she said in a low, sad voice that Georgiana hadn’t heard in a while.  
“Sorry, Charlotte, what do you need to tell me? I promise it will be our secret”  
“Before I came to Sanditon, before my accident, I played football. England international and Arsenal ladies, won the league last season, had it all going for me, I haven’t told anyone here, I don’t want it known, but I think Sidney has found out and it’s going to make it awkward if he does”  
“What? Seriously?”  
“Yes”  
“I don’t know if I’m immensely proud of your achievement or deeply gutted that it’s been snatched away”  
“Thanks, that means a lot, but if Parker starts, I just need to know I’ve got a friend in my corner”  
“Always babe. I’ll be back Friday for the weekend, without Otis, girls weekend. Promise”  
“Thanks. See you Friday”  
“Don’t take any shit from chocolate boy” 

Charlotte laughed “I won’t” 

As she hung up, she looked around her, still no one close enough to have heard her conversation. “Back to the flat, football tournament to arrange and the regatta to finalise.” She said to herself, she was disappointed she couldn’t play in the cricket either. 

As she reached her front door, she could see Sidney leaving his flat, she looked around but it was too late. He had seen her and was on his way over to her. 

“Thanks for the pasta” he said  
“Shame you didn’t eat it” she replied  
“What makes you say that?”  
“I put arsenic in and you’re still alive” she snapped. Sidney looked a little shocked, he could not tell if she was serious or not. She did not give any expression on her face.  
“Can we call a truce?”  
“Why? Because Tom asked you to? Or Diana? Or maybe even Lady D? Or have the police been in touch? I’m meeting them this afternoon to give my statement!”  
“I shouldn’t have put my hand on you. I’m not that kind of bloke”  
“What kind? The type who has to be right and will force a woman to listen if he wants to scream in her face?”  
“The type who hits women, places their hand on them without consent” he said. Charlotte studied his face, he actually looked quite genuinely sorry for that particular action. On instinct she put her hand to her shoulder, she could feel the pain there and it reminded her all over again what she had been through.  
“Forget it” she said, eager to get away from him. 

“Want to go get coffee? Discuss a plan for the match Saturday?” He said, trying to be friendly  
“You make your game plan and tell me what to do. I seem to remember you telling the parents last night that I was following your plan so for ease of getting through the next few weeks, you tell me the plan and I’ll execute. You get your brownie points and I get shot of you quicker” she said and she walked past him to her door as he recoiled at her truthful but hurtful words. 

Once inside, Charlotte felt her tears come again. She hates that she cried with anger. She was angry that he brought up her shoulder again, she was angry that he made her feel pathetic every time he spoke to her, she was angry that he thought he was better than everyone else and angry that she could not escape from him. Her phone sounded and she checked the screen, it was James reminder for her physio this afternoon but she could not face him or the pain that she would have to endure after everything today. She ignored his message. 

Sidney stood on the pavement looking at her closed door. He thought he could hear her crying through the open window. He was angry that she could not see he was trying and he was frustrated that no matter what he did or said, it always made things worse instead of better and he had this other feeling but he didn’t know what it was. He rang Tom. 

“Tom, I’ve got this pain in my chest”  
“Is it a heart attack?”  
“No, it is like”  
“If it’s not a heart attack don’t worry. Have you smoothed things over with Charlotte?”  
“Well”  
“That sounds like a no Sidney, I don’t ask you for a lot and I’m trying to save your arse, the police are going to see her this afternoon for a statement. You just don’t care about Sanditon and my football tournament and you obviously don’t care about your career” Tom said and he hung up the phone.  
The pain in his chest and the feeling that he was hurting other people was completely new to him and he didn’t like it. He would get in his car and leave Sanditon, go somewhere away from all these people who clearly didn’t want him and find some people who did. He reached his bright red Audi convertible, lowered the roof, turned up the music and shot out of Sanditon at a speed that probably broke the law.


	8. Eight

Charlotte sat opposite the police officer at her kitchen table, she had moved her laptop and work papers into a pile out of the way. 

“So you were in the club with your friend Georgiana” the officer said   
“That’s right”   
“And does Georgiana have a last name?”  
“Lambe”   
“As in the fashion designer of the GL fashion house?”  
“Yes, that’s her”  
“Georgiana Lambe, the fashion designer was in a club in Guildford, with Sidney Parker, the top flight footballer and Otis Molyneux, a high profile corporate lawyer and you, a children’s football coach from this little seaside town of Sanditon?” The officer asked bemused   
“No, Georgiana Lambe, who grew up in Sanditon, was in a club in Guildford with her best friend ex England international Charlotte Heywood, who also lives in Sanditon, she met her fiancé Otis Molyneux there around midnight after some girl time with her bestie” Charlotte said, clearly unimpressed at what the officer was trying to insinuate, “I was approached by a drunk Sidney Parker, who had played against Guildford that evening in a cup quarter final and apparently won, I dismissed his offer to dance, which he found insulting, so he turned to George, who also dismissed him, then feeling even more insulted he pushed for one of us to acknowledge him and got quite vocal, so Otis, on returning from the bar, told him in no uncertain terms to leave. Sidney stepped back from Otis, fell over a chair, in his drunkenness, thought that Otis was being aggressive and started throwing the tables and chairs around. I don’t think he was intentionally trying to trash the place. I believe he was too drunk and too up his own arse with self importance that he tried to defend himself and had no idea what he was doing”

The police officer appeared taken aback by Charlotte’s attitude.   
“There’s no need to be hostile Miss Heywood” she said.   
“So you’re defending Mr Parker’s behaviour because you and him have something between you?”   
“Over my dead body would I ever be involved with Parker, he’s arrogant and self-centred, egotistical and completely unable to admit to being in the wrong”  
“And you’re claiming to be an ex footballer, so that you feel justified in having Georgiana Lambe as your friend rather than being a ‘hanger on’ to her, Otis and Sidney and their exclusive lifestyle”   
“No, I’m stating it as a fact, a fact that I have kept from the media, and if it is released by you I will sue”   
“So you are happy to sign as truth, a statement that Mr Parker was so under the influence of alcohol that he was not in his right mind to know that he was causing criminal damage”   
“Yes, that’s pretty much it. I don’t condone what he did and I don’t like him, but I don’t believe he consciously smashed up the place to be malicious”   
“Well I’ll get this typed up when I return to Guildford and I’ll arrange for you to sign it once it’s complete” she said, rising from the chair and bidding Charlotte goodbye. 

By the time she left, she felt absolutely wiped out, mentally drained and restless. She did not know what to do with herself. She even felt she couldn’t sit on the decking with a glass of wine now for fear of Parker coming out and annoying her even further. James had offered to come by as she’d cancelled her physio but she just needed to be alone. She picked up her headphones and put them on, she flicked through her phone for her chill out playlist, poured herself a glass of wine and went out to the decking. With her eyes closed, music on and feet up, she leaned back in the chair and felt her stress start to slip away. 

Sidney found himself in the car park of the training ground, he pulled up alongside Babington’s car. He wasn’t sure why he had driven here, two hours from Sanditon, but it was his safe place. It was where he felt comfortable. He got out of the car and walked into the building, Harry, the manager was walking straight toward him.   
“Parker! You’re suspended” he said “you can’t be here!”  
“But Harry”  
“No but’s, suspended! Turn around and go back where you came from. Diana promised me you would stay away”  
“But I can’t stay in Sanditon boss. I need to be here”

“You should have thought about that before you trashed the club. Is Edward with you?”  
“No boss, I heard he’d gone awol”  
“No one has seen him since your video call this morning. His phone is off and his car is gone. All i need is for him to self destruct as well, you pair are my biggest pains in the arse. Why do you both have to go off the rails at the same time?”  
“Don’t know boss, but I’ve tried to make amends. I just keep making things worse”  
“Take the suspension, find a therapist, enjoy the seaside, do whatever Diana says you need to do to sort this. Come back in a month”

Sidney turned and walked out. Forty eight hours ago, he thought he had the perfect life, now look at it. He had no choice but to return to Sanditon, he knew, so he returned to his car to think about driving back. He checked his phone when he got back in the car. Five missed calls from Diana and a voicemail. 

“Where are you? The police and Tom tell me you’ve left Sanditon. You were told you had to stay, you had to behave, hey I even thought you might finally grow up a bit but as always. When things get tough you run away. If you’re not back in Sanditon by your seven o’clock curfew then you’re finished” 

He started the engine and began the journey back to Sanditon. Back to Tom and Charlotte and the police who wanted to speak to him tomorrow morning. He could not fail again, football was his life and he would not lose it for them.


	9. Nine

Sidney sat in an interview room at the police station. He was less than happy at being dragged in and was frustrated at being left in a room wondering what was going on.  
“Please can you come in and answer a few questions now that we have collected the witness statements” the officer had asked. Yet here he was, waiting for the officer to come and do her job, waiting for the waste of a solicitor that the club and Diana had insisted should be in attendance and still no idea of what his future held. 

At last his solicitor and the police officer walked in.  
“About bloody time!” Sidney snapped at the both, “I’ve got better things to be doing than wasting my time here!”  
“Well if you had behaved yourself last Friday, then you wouldn’t be here” the officer said, “you only have yourself to blame”  
“Me?” He asked astounded. “As I told you, it wasn’t my bloody fault! All I did was offer some girl a drink or a dance and next thing I’m being assaulted by her friend and her friends boyfriend!” He added. 

“Sidney, I need you to stop talking” the solicitor cut in.  
“Then do your f*cking job and get this sorted” he retorted angrily.  
“Sidney please, just listen to the officer. Mouth closed, ears open” 

Sidney turned and glared at the officer, allowing him to speak.  
“Mr Parker, I’ve reviewed all of the statements and cctv footage of Friday night and of course I am also aware of your past history”  
“So you’re blaming me now. Bloody marvellous. What happened to innocent until proven guilty” Sidney said angrily and feeling himself getting more angry by the minute.  
“Sidney please” the solicitor said, placing a hand on Sidney’s shoulder. 

“If you must know Mr Parker, the young lady in question, a Miss Heywood” the officer continued, then paused as Sidney’s face fell, shocked at what he was hearing.  
“Charlotte Heywood?” He asked after a minute. The officer checked the notes.  
“That’s correct. Do you know her? Your statement clearly says you did not know the young lady in question.”  
“It’s complicated” Sidney said  
“Well we need to uncomplicate it” the solicitor said.  
“I met her Monday at my brothers workplace. She works for him. I didn’t know her on Friday, when the incident happened or Saturday afternoon, when you took the statement. She hates me anyway so you may as well handcuff me and take me away now if she’s made her statement” he said feeling completely defeated. 

“Miss Heywood states you were extremely intoxicated”  
“I told you that”  
“And that you fell, but thought in your confusion that you’d been assaulted, and lost it”  
“What do you want me to say?” Sidney asked. 

“You can add anything to your statement if you wish. But based on her statement and Miss Lambe along with the cctv, it appears that you fell and got angry. We will put the case to the CPS for criminal damage charges, but with your history, you could face jail time this time” the officer explained. “We’ll be in touch with you when the CPS have made a decision on charges”  
“You’ve got to be joking right? My career depends on this! Can’t you hurry it along?”  
“Look Sidney,” the solicitor said, “go back to Sanditon, see out your months suspension and keep out of trouble” 

Sidney got to his feet and left, without a word to either party, he walked straight to his car and headed back to Sanditon.  
“Of all the women, in all the clubs, why Heywood?” He said to himself as he drove back. “Why was she in Guildford anyway?”  
He drove back to the flat and searched for his swimming trunks. He needed a swim to clear his head. 

Charlotte sat in Tom’s office with him waiting for Sidney to arrive.  
“I’m sure he’ll be here any moment now” Tom said.  
“Well I have a physio session so I can’t wait around all afternoon for him” Charlotte said. “What is it you wanted us both for anyway? Can’t you tell me now and well tell him when he bothers to show his face again?”

“I want to arrange a photograph of you both together to use for the promotion material for the tournament. It will bring more people to Sanditon to have my brother centre stage”  
“While I do the hard work in the background?”  
“No, Charlotte, of course not, you’ll be on the picture with him. The two of you together, in your England kits, show the world what we have here” Tom said rather flamboyantly.  
“No way, you promised Tom, no one would know who I was! Chocolate boy can parade his fame and fortune til the cows come home, but I am not to be used for promotion other than if the kids win their matches”  
“But Charlotte”  
“But nothing. If you insist on outing me, then I’ll take my P45 and pack up my flat today!” Charlotte said, standing and raising her voice.  
“Ok, you win” Tom said and Charlotte turned to leave. She had her swimming costume on under her shorts and T-shirt and she had just fifteen minutes until she was meeting James on the beach for her cold water therapy.

Sidney was just getting out of the water as he saw Charlotte walking towards him on the beach, she waved and he waved back, then he realised that James was waiting for her and it was actually him she was waving at. He walked toward them and saw Charlotte stripping down to her swimming costume, he was pleasantly surprised at what he saw. They turned to walk toward the sea talking and too late for Charlotte to do anything about it, they were face to face. Sidney tried not to stare at the scars all over her shoulder. It was so much worse than he had imagined. Charlotte sensed him watching and turned away from him. 

“We’re heading into the water for some physio, please excuse us” James said to Sidney as Charlotte rushed off into the water away from them.  
“I didn’t mean to stare,” Sidney said as he watched Charlotte run away.  
“It is the one part of her life that’s she’s never going to let you in Sidney, leave her be”  
“Tell her I won’t be late for the kids tomorrow” Sidney said and he turned to walk back home. 

“Are you ok?” James asked as he reached Charlotte, who was already doing her exercises in the water.  
“He’s going to be insufferable tomorrow, now he’s seen it. He’s so fixated on being perfect, it’ll be yet another thing for him to jibe about. I may have to move on from Sanditon”  
“Give tomorrow a chance, for the children, I’ll stand by any decision you make come Sunday” James said, leaving her to lean back and float in the water to move her arm around.

Sidney arrived back at the flat to find Tom sat on the decking.   
“Tom, make a habit of just letting yourself in do you?”  
“Only when I’m worried about you”  
“What is that supposed to mean?”  
“Well you failed to turn up to the meeting with me and Charlotte, you don’t answer your phone, no apology”  
“Oh, that was today. Well, Charlotte obviously want there either so it’s all good”  
“Charlotte had to leave for her physio, she’d waited over half an hour for you”  
“Was it urgent?”  
“I don’t suppose you care really!”  
“No, I don’t” Sidney said, turning to walk into the bathroom to shower, when he came out is the shower Tom had left, still angry at everything from today, he threw on a clean shirt and a pair of jeans and headed out to the pub, his usual remedy for a bad day, despite what the coach said about it, it helped him. He would not be he until he’d drunk himself to forgetfulness.


	10. Ten

Charlotte was awoken by the sound of someone trying to get into her flat, she glanced at the clock, it was 10:30pm, she slowly got out of bed and crept down the hall to the front door, thankful that the doors were fitted with security peepholes. She took a look through before deciding whether or not to phone the police and was surprised to see Sidney, looking very worse for wear, trying to put his key in her door. 

She opened the door ready to shout at him.  
“Why are you in my house?” he asked confused, leaning on the doorframe for support.  
"Why are you so drunk you cannot stand when you are supposed to be behaving yourself?”  
“You sound like Diana” he laughed falling into her hallway.  
“I don’t remember inviting you in!” Charlotte snapped, staring at him trying to get back up from the floor.   
“You are not Diana; you are prettier than her and you don’t drag me by the collar when I am naughty”  
“Stop acting like a child and maybe she will stop treating you like one!” 

Charlotte nudged him out of the way with her foot so she could shut the front door, she did not want anyone to see or start any rumours about her and this waste of space. She moved into the kitchen and put the kettle on, she took two mugs from the cupboard and began to make one coffee for Sidney and a hot chocolate for herself, she knew if she too had a coffee, she would be awake all night. Sidney had made it to his feet and was leaning on the door frame to the kitchen now.

“Who moved the kitchen?” he asked, “It was the other side of the hall when I left”  
“Your kitchen is the other side of the hall!” she said, refusing to turn to look at him, instead, concentrating on the task at hand. 

“Have you eaten?” she asked, wondering if that too might help with his state of intoxication.  
“When?”  
“Today”  
He mumbled something that Charlotte could not make out. She put two slices of bread in her toaster, picked up the coffee then turned to face him.   
“Hand” she demanded putting her hand out to him, he took her hand and giggled as Charlotte led him through to the lounge and sat him on the sofa, handing him the coffee once he was sat.  
“It is hot, do not tip it” she said, as if talking to a small child, before returning to make him toast and get her hot chocolate. 

The downside of a small flat was that she only had one sofa, she contemplated sitting on the floor but opted for one of the two dining chairs that accompanied her small table.   
Sidney was babbling to himself in his drunken state and Charlotte was feeling quite frustrated with him, she had had a hard day and she was not in the mood to babysit this drunken arse, it brought up too many bad memories of one of her mothers’ boyfriends who often turned up in this state for the year or two he had lived with them and she had moved away from the family to not have this stress.

“Shall I order pizza?” Sidney suddenly said trying to get his phone out of his pocket.  
“No, eat your toast!”  
“Would you rather Chinese?”  
“No, I would rather be going back to bed”  
“Charlotte Heywood” he said with a smile, “I knew you couldn’t resist me” he tried to move to put his coffee on the table but was about to spill it. Charlotte jumped up to stop him, taking the cup before he made any more mess.  
“For God’s sake Sidney” she shouted, “You will never, ever get me into bed with you, if you weren’t so bloody drunk and heavy, I would take you to your own flat, but as I am currently struggling with an injury, I have let you in MY flat. DO NOT disrespect me in my own home, sober yourself up or I will ring Tom and he can come and deal with you!”

Sidney sat back down,  
“Please, not another lecture from Tom or Diana” he said, almost pleading with her.  
“Drink some of this coffee then and eat that toast” she said in a low, yet frightening voice. She felt defeated by this man and it was taking all her strength to do the right thing for him right now. Sidney nodded and took a few sips of the coffee.  
“This doesn’t taste like the coffee I had yesterday”  
“Tough, it’s all that’s on offer” she said angrily, “Or water” she added. He reached for the toast and picked up a piece, holding it up in front of him.  
“You cut it into little triangles” he laughed  
“As I said, if you keep acting like a child, people will treat you like a child”  
He sat in silence as he finished the toast and coffee. 

“Do you think you can make it home safely now?” Charlotte asked, yawning.  
“Can I stay for a bit?” he asked, “I will make coffee for you now if you let me”  
Charlotte sighed, “I will make the coffee, I can’t be dealing with you burning yourself” she got up, retrieved his empty cup and walked to the kitchen.

When she returned, Sidney was sat with his head resting on the back of the sofa and his eyes closed, he looked like he was sleeping, she went to the closet to retrieve a blanket for him, she would leave him there. 

As she went to put the blanket over him, she could see he had some stray tears rolling down his cheek, he opened his eyes as though sensing he was being watched. Charlotte sat next to him on the sofa and picked up the mugs, she handed him his and waited for him to speak.  
“F*cked up again haven’t’ I?”  
“Probably” she replied  
“Why are you being nice to me?”  
“I’m not, I couldn’t drag you out of my flat and I didn’t want you being drunk and throwing up on my floor, so I offered to help sober you a little”  
“I didn’t know it was you in the club”  
“Good, I prefer it that way”  
“I’ve been horrible, and you told the police I was just drunk and not an animal, even though I blamed you”  
“I am used to being blamed for things, don’t stress, but I also won’t go falling at your feet like your fans, I don’t like you, I have no interest in you or your behaviour, but I don’t lie, you fell over drunk and you lost it, that’s on you Parker”

“I don’t get drunk all the time” he said, finding himself needing to explain to her.  
“Ok” she said, he was right now drunk in front of her again.  
“I just want people to like me” he said, starting to cry, “You don’t know how hard it is for me, I have to be ‘The Sidney Parker’, no one knows the real me”  
“Firstly, if you tip that coffee, you fit the bill for cleaning, second, I don’t mind crying but keep the snot away from me and finally, you have had ample opportunity to be authentic with me, but you have chosen to be this version”

Sidney laughed, took a sip of the coffee and leaned over to take a tissue from the box.  
“You won’t tell anyone about this will you?”  
“Why would I? I have no interest in you for a start”  
“I know you have hidden who you are from everyone”  
“That’s my business”  
“Can we start over?”  
“I don’t need to start over; I have only responded to you based on your behaviour”

Charlotte could feel herself getting angry with him again and she didn’t like it. 

“If you really have no interest in me, then I wonder why you take the trouble to be so hurtful” he said  
“You know where the door is, no one is making you stay” she snapped, feeling her anger rise.

Sidney felt completely torn, he did not want to leave as he really wanted to make things right with Charlotte, though he did not know why, but he felt that no matter what he did, he was actually making things worse. 

“I…” he started, but felt defeated, he put his head in his hands and sat for a minute. Charlotte felt guilty, maybe she let him under her skin again when he had tried to offer an Olive branch.  
She placed a hand on his forearm.  
“I suppose maybe I am being a little harsh, you did get me a cactus after all”  
Sidney looked up, “Arthur said it was insulting to buy you a cactus, Diana said women like flowers, I thought it was a flower, it is in a pot”   
Charlotte laughed, “You have a lot to learn Parker!”   
“I could do with a friend to help out?”  
“Don’t push it, acquaintance” Charlotte said, sitting back to relax on the sofa and drink her coffee, she decided she needed the caffeine if she had to deal with Sidney all night.   
Sidney joined her relaxing and drinking coffee enjoying a moment of calm.


	11. Eleven

When Sidney woke up, he wasn’t sure where he was, he was fully clothed, but not wearing any shoes, he did not recognise the room, though it was familiar, he took a deep breath to focus, and he could smell bacon.  
He stood to go and investigate and as he did, he heard the sound of an angel, singing from the next room, then he suddenly remembered he was in Charlotte’s flat, he had a snippet of memory of her telling him off and making him drink coffee, he looked down to see a bruise forming on his knee and wondered if he had fallen over drunk again. He tentatively walked to the kitchen, he had no real idea of what he had said or why she had let him stay but he suspected he owed yet another apology. 

He stood near the door listening to her singing, she was wearing a long t-shirt and her hair was piled up on her head, messy but cute, he thought. She paused when she noticed him.  
“I didn’t realise you were awake” she said  
“Please don’t stop singing just because I am here, it is nice”  
“I don’t sing for the public” she said turning back to the cooker “I assume you like bacon”  
“I do, but I suspect I have been a nuisance already so I will just head off”  
“I don’t think so Parker” she said sternly, turning back to face him, he looked surprised, he wasn’t sure what he was in trouble for now, but she definitely didn’t have a smile on her face.  
“Ok, but I thought you would be glad to see the back of me”  
“You said last night, if I let you stay, you would make me coffee, I am still waiting, kettle on the side, coffee in the cupboard above it with the cups”

Sidney had no recollection of that part of the conversation, but as she was frightening when she was angry, he did not dare just walk away, so he stepped into the kitchen and complied.  
Charlotte took the two plates of Bacon sandwiches back into the lounge and placed them on the small table that she worked from, she moved her laptop and placed it on the floor then opened the patio doors for a breeze from this sunny morning. Sidney followed bringing the coffee.  
“Sit” she said, pointing to the chair opposite her, where the plate was “We don’t do ketchup with bacon sandwiches in this house, it is HP or nothing” she said, adding the sauce to her own. Sidney eyed her suspiciously, he was not sure what sort of a mood she was in, she was friendly in behaviour yet hostile in tone and as he could not recall half of what had been said between them, he was also nervous of that too. He picked up the sauce without a word, squeezed a little on his bacon and took a bite of his sandwich.

“So,” Sidney said, unsure what else to say.  
“Final warning Parker, one more yellow and you’re off, red-carded, understand?”  
“Umm, for what, my memory may be a little hazy”  
“No, it is being eaten away by the alcohol termites that get in your brain from that bad stuff and if we are calling this a fresh start, you play by my rules. No alcohol on a weeknight, Saturday night only. If you cannot hold your own, you do not go out so that you don’t try breaking into my flat again. You turn up to training on time and if you have an issue with the way I run my team you discuss it with me like an adult, not scream at me like the petulant child you can be and finally, if you choose to run with me in the mornings, if I am not topless, you are not topless. Got it?”

Sidney laughed, “Spoilt sport, I could definitely buy into both of us topless on a morning run”  
“Then run where I can’t see you with your scantily clad beach bunnies, the volleyball team train on the beach on Wednesday night, in bikinis,”  
Sidney almost choked on his sandwich “My brother did not tell me there was a volleyball team”  
“Well, if you must know, I manage all of the sport teams, so maybe you should try being nice to me, see where it gets you. If you shower, change and bring cake, preferably carrot cake, then I will give you a tour and I may even introduce you to some of the teams” 

“Charlotte, I assume, judging by my past history, I owe you an apology for last night”  
“Well, you didn’t throw up anywhere and you didn’t trash the place, so I suppose you’ve been pretty tame. Did you mean it about a fresh start?”  
“Probably not if I was drunk, but I am willing to try”  
“Fine, I refuse to work with Sidney Chocolate Boy, I will only work with real Sidney and you are not to reveal to anyone about my football knowledge, I know the rules to teach the kids, nothing more”  
“What is your issue with people finding out, are you not proud of your achievements?”  
“Have you finished? I’ll take your plate” Charlotte said, standing and leaning over to pick up his plate. “I’m going in the shower, you can see yourself out, reconvene at eleven, if you’re late I’m going without you” 

Sidney watched her walk off to the kitchen with the plates and he rose to find his shoes and leave. Charlotte watched him leave then crossed to the bathroom to get showered and dressed. 

Sidney showered and dressed, he put a short-sleeved shirt on and chino shorts, trying to make a good impression. He couldn’t remember what cake she said she wanted, but he headed off to that coffee shop he’d found the other day and decided he would buy a selection, or maybe the staff would know her, and they would help him out. He left the flat with forty minutes to spare, fifteen down, fifteen back and hopefully no crowds, he thought, he had to be on time, and he had to show willing. 

“Mr Parker, good to see you back” the girl behind the counter said, “What can I get you today?”  
“Two coffees and some cake please”  
“What cake did you want, coffee and walnut is Tom’s favourite”  
“I’m not buying for Tom; do you know what Charlotte’s favourite cake is?”  
“Who’s Charlotte?”  
“Kind girl, does the kids football training”  
“Hangs about with James, he’s really hot?”  
“Yes, that’s her”  
“He’s not as hot as you though Mr Parker” she blushed, trying to let him know, she was interested “Carrot”  
“Yes, that’s what she said, Carrot cake, I’ll take two slices of that please”  
“So, you and her is it? Does James know?”  
“I don’t know what you mean” Sidney said, ignoring the insinuation “But if I can have it to go please, I am on a tight schedule, I’ll be sacked and sent back to London if I don’t make it on time”  
“Well, we can’t have that now can we” she smiled sweetly, then walked off to bag the cakes while her colleague, a young lad with hair covering his eyes, made the coffee. Sidney thanked them both and left a tip, then hurried back to meet Charlotte on time.

Charlotte did not expect Sidney to arrive on time, he had been quiet for the last half an hour or so, she assumed he had gone back to bed. She was just about ready to head off, first she wanted to wash the dishes from this morning as she liked to come home to a clean kitchen then she could go. 

Sidney was about to knock her door, it was one minute past eleven and he hoped she had not really left without him, he had not seen her leave as he walked down the street. He knew he was right, and she was still at home, he could hear her singing again. He indulged himself for a minute, then knocked. He knew she would never sing for him again, so he had to steal the moments when he could. 

Charlotte answered the door “You’re late”  
“Technically I was here before eleven, but I could hear you singing” he said stepping in as she slipped her trainers on.  
“Coffee and cake as requested” he smiled showing her his goods.  
“Well done,” she said, taking the cake and placing it in her bag, then ushering him out of the door, once she had locked up, she took the coffee cup from him.  
“I have sugar in my pocket, I couldn’t remember if you added some this morning” he said  
“They do have sugar in little sachets if you ask, you don’t have to spoon it straight into your pocket!” Charlotte said, trying to hide her grin.  
Sidney said nothing, he wanted to show her that he was not all bad, all of the time.

“First we are heading up to the school”  
“I went to that school” he said  
“Are you allowed back? I can deal with it myself if I need to” she said  
“I’ll have you know; I was a good boy at school”  
“What happened?”  
“Long story”  
“I’ll get it out of you”  
“You tell me yours; I’ll tell you mine?” he offered  
“Don’t push it Parker”  
‘Tell me something about yourself please Charlotte, you know a lot about me, all I know is you sing like an angel, but I am not allowed to listen, you played football, but I am not allowed to talk about it, and you coach kids.”  
“I am sure you have looked me up online! What more do you need to know?”  
“Where did you grow up?”  
“Willingden”  
“Do you have any siblings?”  
“Ten” she said, Sidney stopped walking and looked at her to see if she was joking again.  
“TEN?” he asked, shocked. Charlotte turned to face him.

“Alison, my real sister, Peter and Philip, my father’s son’s before he met my mother, Katie my sister I never see, my father and that one’s mother don’t get on, Lilly and Lola, twin sisters my father had with the girl he’s married to now, barely older than me this one is, James, the brother my mother had with the alcoholic who used to hit me and my mother, Andrew and Petra, brother and sister my mother had before she met my father, Lexie the sister my mother had with one of the others, can’t remember which one now.”  
“Well, no wonder you are good with kids and no wonder you put me in my place so often”  
“Part of the reason I live a private life away from all of them, well I keep in touch with Alison”  
“What got you into football?” he asked thinking it better to change the subject.  
“Youth Offending Service”  
“Seriously?”  
“Yes. Now, when we go into the school, no smart remarks, got it?”

“Yes, what are we here for?”  
“I am here to discuss their ideas for the tennis club, obviously I can’t do much with the shoulder, so I’ll have to get someone in for that, but there seems to be interest and my role here in Sanditon is the promotion of sport. I am devastated I can’t play the cricket match in two weeks; I so love a game of cricket”  
“Can I help?”  
“Can you play tennis or cricket?”  
“I used to play on the Sanditon cricket team with Tom and Arthur! Tennis can’t be that hard can it?”  
“We will discuss the kids football this afternoon, I have a meeting Monday as Tom wants me to see if we can get a professional team playing in Sanditon for the adults local league, he says men’s, I say ladies”  
“Ok. Let’s smash the school first”  
“I think you have smashed enough in the last week Sidney Parker” she said with a smile,  
“First smile from you Miss Heywood, I must be picking up”  
“Move it, or I’ll have Mr Jones put you in detention!”  
“Mr Jones is still headteacher, he must be 108 by now”  
“105 don’t be rude to him, unless he gives me some good gossip on you that is” she smiled again, and the pair walked through the gate to the school office.


	12. Twelve

"Hi Angie” Charlotte said as she reached the office.  
"Hi Charlotte, nice to see you again and I see you brought a helper with you” Angie said, Charlotte smiled, she knew Sidney would not be happy at someone not recognising him.  
“This is one of Tom’s brothers, Sidney, he was a boy at this school once upon a time” Charlotte said,   
“I haven’t been here that long Charlotte, but he does seem familiar, must be he’s reminding me of Tom.” Angie said to Charlotte, then turned to Sidney “You should pay attention to this young lady, she’ll help you get far”   
“Maybe I will teach her a thing or two” Sidney said, “I am hoping she shows me something worth keeping her in her job, Tom relies on my knowledge and standing to keep the workers in line” 

Angie didn’t know where to look but she caught the annoyance on Charlotte’s face.  
“Ah, here is Mr Jones now” Angie said, relieved to be able to escape the conversation.   
“Mr Jones, how good to see you again” Sidney said stepping straight up to him and shaking his hand.  
“I hope I haven’t cost you your job” Angie whispered to Charlotte as Sidney took the lead with Mr Jones.  
“No, but if he stays, I won’t be” Charlotte said with a small smile. 

“Sidney Parker!” Mr Jones said, “I heard a rumour that you had returned to Sanditon, Tom has been very excited to have you return, I wonder if Arthur or Diana might be around too”  
“Diana has been back and forth, she is very busy, I am hoping that Arthur will be joining me at some point over the coming week, I have a special request for him” 

Mr Jones led them both from the office to the staff room.  
“And you are helping our Charlotte whilst you are here, I see”   
“Well, you know me Mr Jones, I haven’t let my fame or fortune go to my head, if I can help out and give my time and skills to help others then I will”  
“So humble and selfless” Charlotte said sarcastically.   
“Sidney has always been of a kind heart, even when he was a boy here, we knew he would become a top-class footballer even then” Mr Jones said, “I am sure he will help you no end Charlotte, though I seem to recall that tennis was not his forte, so I hope we are not to rely on him alone for that”  
“Mr Jones let us discuss what exactly you are hoping for with the tennis and I can then chat with some people and see what we can offer you” Charlotte said, taking her note pad from her bag as she sat in the staffroom as Mr Jones had invited them to do. 

“Mr Jones, I have a lot of contacts so will endeavour to find you the best person I can” Sidney said.  
The meeting went on in pretty much the same vein, Charlotte trying to establish what the needs were, age range, number of pupils while Sidney tried to impress on his old head teacher how well he had done, and he owed the school the best he could in return for their support. Charlotte was relieved when the meeting was over, and they headed back outside.

“I think that went well” Sidney said as they walked back through the playground.  
“I think I need a break, why don’t you go off and have your lunch, leave me your phone number and I’ll let you know where to meet later” she said, pushing her pen and paper toward him to write his number down.  
“But I thought” Sidney started, totally taken aback by her behaviour and no idea what had gone wrong.  
“Write or miss the afternoon, your choice Parker” Charlotte said. He knew he was in trouble by her tone, but he wished he knew what the problem was. He wrote his number on the paper and watched as Charlotte walked away without another word. 

Sidney took his phone out and rang Arthur  
“Are you busy?” he asked as soon as Arthur answered the phone.  
“Depends what you want”  
“Why is everyone being like this today”  
“Oh, so you have upset young Heywood again then”  
“I don’t know, I didn’t think so, but she’s just stormed off all arse like, probably her time of the month, but it’s hardly fair to take it out on me”

“Hang on a minute now and lets rewind, where did this happen?”  
“Outside our old primary school”  
“And you were giving her a tour of Sanditon and showing her the school?”  
“No, why would I do that?” Sidney said as if it was a ludicrous idea. “I went with her to meet with Mr Jones to talk about some tennis thing for the school”  
“But you know nothing about tennis!”  
“I know, but I told Mr Jones I have plenty of contacts in my world now and with all my success it is only fair to give back so I would endeavour to find him someone suitable”  
“What was Charlotte’s offer to the school?”  
“I have no idea, she didn’t say”  
“Because you couldn’t shut up or because you couldn’t listen to her?”  
“I was just being generous to my old school”  
“Then there is your answer”

Sidney thought for a minute, “I still don’t see it, what is my answer? What can you see that I can’t?”  
Arthur sighed “Imagine Ken asked you to play for England and I was stood next to you and I said to Ken that I knew all the best players from my physio work, and I could get him someone better to play on the England team than you, how would you feel?”  
“But you wouldn’t do that!”  
“How would you feel?”  
“I would be pretty pissed, if Ken asked me it is because he thought I was the right person for the job, why would you try and humiliate me and offer someone you thought was better, it’s pretty shitty behaviour”  
“Ok, now Mr Jones asked Charlotte to do her job and discuss some setting up some tennis lessons at school and you have offered someone you think is better for the job”

There was a silence.  
“You still there Sid?”  
“I f*cked up again” Sidney said, sounding defeated.  
“Please do not buy her another cactus”  
“I won’t, I’m leaving, I’ll ring Diana now and tell her I will see out my suspension in my own house, the press can say what they want about me. I’m done for anyway”  
“Sidney, if you walk away now, you will regret it”  
“Just promise me you will still come and take a look at Charlotte, I want an honest opinion and I think that James is only after getting her into bed, not helping her shoulder heal. After all she has been through it is the least, I can do”  
“I promise I will see her early next week, but I think you should reconsider, and you know Diana will give you hell”  
“Then we won’t tell her”  
“Sidney” Arthur said, but it was too late, his brother had disconnected the call and if he knew anything about his brother, he would have turned it off as well. 

Charlotte took a few deep breaths to calm her as she walked away from the school toward the field next door, she would check it was all of for tomorrow’s match. Everyone knew it as the school field pitch, but it had been donated for community use some years ago now, long before Charlotte got to Sanditon. Charlotte was feeling annoyed at herself that she had let Sidney get away with taking over again and belittling her. She wished she had been able to speak up but, she knew with him, she would be fighting a losing battle. He says he wants to make an effort, to start afresh, then as soon as there is the opportunity to be the star of the show, he jumps straight back into his old behaviour.

“I can’t believe I fell for all that bullshit last night while he was drunk about people not knowing the real him” she said as she walked her frustration off. “I doubt if he knows the real him. For a moment, I saw a hint of a person I could work with, possibly even be friends with, then just like that, his act drops, and this is the real him, always needs to be centre of attention, even so, why does he constantly need to try and put me down, trying to make me look stupid.”

Two laps of the pitch and she was feeling a lot calmer, she figured she should have some lunch, she sat on a bench and took her sandwiches out and saw that she had the carrot cake still in her bag that he had brought. Feeling a little guilty for shutting him out again, she decided to call him, nut it went straight to voicemail. “I’ll send a text” she decided that way he’ll have my number too.

“Hey, it’s Charlotte, running club meet at six, beach circuits at two, I’ll meet you in half hour by the ice cream stand on the beach” 

Charlotte finished her lunch and checked her phone, no reply, hopefully he would just meet her there, she thought as she packed up to walk down to the beach.

Sidney walked back to the flat and started throwing his stuff back in his bags so that he could leave. He was just checking he hadn’t missed anything when Tom burst in, the downside of being in one of his brother’s rentals was that he had a spare key and could let himself in at any time.  
“Where do you think you’re going?” Tom said.  
“Arthur rang you, did he?”  
“No”  
“Diana then?”  
“I can neither confirm nor deny”  
“I specifically told Arthur not to ring her”  
“Oh, I am sorry that your family care about you Sidney” Tom said sarcastically

“Give over Tom, you don’t care about me, you care about using me for the sake of Sanditon” Sidney shouted  
“That is nonsense, and you know it” Tom shouted back.  
“Give me one reason to stay”  
“To help Charlotte with the tournament”  
“Which benefits you. If I hadn’t been suspended would Charlotte have been doing it on her own?”  
“Of course, but it will draw so much more attention if you are involved too”  
“Again, for your benefit. I’m off and you cannot stop me” Sidney said pushing past Tom.   
“I have always supported you brother, why can you not just this once support me, you are so selfish do you know” Tom shouted after him, but he feared his words were wasted as he heard the car door slam, followed by the engine starting. 

Charlotte waited by the beach hut for fifteen minutes, she had tried to call Sidney a few times but there was no answer, she decided to ring Tom.  
“Hi Tom, I can’t get hold of Sidney, you wouldn’t have any ideas, would you?”  
“He’s packed up and run away, he won’t be back” Tom replied.  
“Oh, ok, thanks for the update” Charlotte said, and she headed down to meet Jack who ran the beach circuits. 

“Hey Jack, room for another one?” she said greeting him with a friendly hug  
“Always room for you Charlie, just so long as you promise to pace yourself with the shoulder”  
“Of course, I haven’t been great since the last surgery and I cannot cope with the pain of more, I just need to get some exercise in”  
“No problem, join in”  
Charlotte opened her bag to get her purse out,   
“No charge for you for the session, I wouldn’t have this job if it weren’t for you” Jack said, Charlotte smiled, she liked Jack, he ran a few classes in the gym hall and on the beach and he had such a great way with people. No matter age or ability, he helped you to feel like you had achieved something after the class. 

Charlotte wondered why Sidney had run away and where he had gone, she had told him she needed a break, surely, he realised his behaviour. She wondered if he would return, she wondered if the police had decided to charge him and if he was escaping the press, she knew how brutal they could be, especially following her accident, they had hounded her mother, who had actually tried to sell her story for a few hundred pounds. Hadn’t she run away to Sanditon? She would try him again later, drop him a text, maybe he would respond if he thought she understood him. Her thoughts were disturbed by the sound of Jack blowing his whistle. Exercise first, Sidney second, she thought, he would certainly put himself first given the same situation.


	13. Thirteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is Arthur's time to shine and Sidney learns some information that means things can only get worse!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologise to anyone who is not an Arthur fan, but this Arthur I love!!

Sidney arrived back at his swanky pad, parked the car in the garage so that no one would know he was back and headed straight to his gym, leaving his phone in the kitchen. He turned on his music and tried to burn off his excess energy and frustration. He knew his siblings would all be trying to get hold of him and it wouldn’t be long before one of them turned up on his door. Sidney really pushed himself today, but no matter what, there was still a niggling feeling that would not settle, he could not make himself feel better. It was over an hour when he finally gave up and headed back to the kitchen. Arthur was sat at his breakfast bar on a stool, drinking something green. 

“That looks disgusting”  
“I can whip you up one if there is anything in your fridge” Arthur offered  
“Nothing here, I wasn’t expecting to be home. What do you want Arthur?”  
“To see my big brother, anything wrong with that?”  
“Yes, you rang Diana!”   
“I did not, she rang me. You specifically said not to ring her, you didn’t say I couldn’t tell her if she rang me!”   
“But you text her and asked her to ring you to cover your arse”

“What are you doing back then?” Arthur said, changing the subject so as not to incriminate himself in his behaviour.  
“What is the point in staying, I can’t do anything right as far as she is concerned, Tom is only interested in what I bring to Sanditon, you have no idea how hard it is for me!”  
“Sidney, what is the point of doing something if it is easy? What do we learn from that? How does it challenge us? How do we grow into a better person?”  
“Don’t start with all that again. We both know I am not a good person and I will never be better than I am”

“Tell me how you feel now that you are back?”  
“Sweaty!”  
“Ok, so straight to exercise because something was building in you. What?”  
“Frustration”  
“Is it gone?”  
“No”  
“Does it feel any better since leaving Sanditon?”  
“Worse, but I don’t see why”  
“Is it because of Charlotte?”

Sidney paused for a minute, looking at Arthur as if he had two heads.  
“Why would you say that?”  
“When was the last time you cared what someone thought of you?”  
“I don’t care what she thinks of me!”  
“When was the last time you asked me to take care of someone other than yourself?”  
“Babington, when he did that calf strain”  
“Other than Babington?”  
“Where are you going with this?”  
“Is that feeling guilt that you hurt her and that you let her down and now you have run away and left her to do all of this on her own?”  
“No, but I do think that James is a lecherous creep who only cares about putting his hands on her body and I want you to look at her because you are the best”  
“So, you are jealous that James has put his hands on her body?”

Sidney started to feel his muscles tense again. Was he jealous? was Arthur, right? Did her care about Charlotte?

“Sit down Sidney before you pass out!” Arthur said with a smile,  
“What are you on about now?”  
“I can see those cogs turning, that brain hasn’t done this much thinking in a while, just looking out for you” he laughed. Sidney smiled; his brother knew how to speak to him in a way that his other siblings didn’t. Sidney grabbed a bottle of water from his fridge and sat with Arthur. Arthur pulled a couple of protein bars out of his pocket.   
“For emergencies” he said. Sidney took one and opened it. 

“Look, there is something I need to tell you” Arthur said, suddenly serious, “but you must swear not to tell Diana I told you”  
“Ok” Sidney said cautiously.  
“You know Edward Denham went AWOL?”  
“Yes, has he turned up?”  
“Sort of”  
“Meaning?”  
“He has been to the police station and made a statement, he is now keeping out of the way of everyone, but at least he has been in touch with Harry”

“What has he done?”  
“Not what you are thinking”  
“I wasn’t thinking anything.”  
“It was his car that his Charlotte and caused her injury last year” Arthur said.  
“WHAT?!” Sidney shouted, anger rising again inside him, another indication to Arthur that he did in fact care about her.   
“It is not what you think. Sit down” Arthur said, pushing his brother back onto his stool. He could tell that Sidney was really angry now and he was not always prone to listening when he was like that.  
“Listen to me Sid, calm it and listen” Arthur said calmly, Sidney nodded.  
“He’s a gambler, we know that” Arthur continued. “Him and that creepy lawyer friend of his Otis, both were out one night, Otis lost a lot of money, when they came after him, he gave Edward's name, so Keith Howard came after Edward, took the car in lieu of the debt and couldn’t handle it, crashed it driving it and ran off before the police could come. Edward reported the car stolen when the police turned up as he didn’t want to get on the wrong side of Howard or reveal his gambling debt, he assumed it was his debt and harry had told him he’d be off the team if he was caught again”

Sidney took a minute to process it all.  
“So, what made him go to the police now?” Sidney asked confused.   
“You” Arthur said  
“Me?” Sidney was still confused.   
“Firstly, he is more frightened of you than he is of Howard, secondly, he went to see Otis to tell him it was Charlotte that had been hit and that he thought he should come forward, that is when Otis told him what he had done, so he decided to do the right thing it would seem, and he’s told them everything. Howard has been arrested and Otis is in for questioning.”  
“Does Charlotte know?”  
“Not yet, the police are doing their thing first but with you back home, at least she has James to comfort her when it all comes out in a few days’ time, nothing for you to worry about though, you don’t care about her anyway” Arthur said. 

“Arthur, I love you and I swear if you don’t come and see Charlotte’s shoulder next week like you promised I will never forgive you, but I have to jump in the shower and get back for the match tomorrow, someone needs to be with charlotte when the police arrive”  
“Well, Sidney, if you are sure, I mean, if you don’t care, I don’t see why you need to be the one to go. We could hit a club tonight, pick us up some ladies, you don’t haven’t had a Saturday off for a while and the team are playing Sunday, so I have tomorrow off. Like the good old days?”  
“Arthur, I love you, but I have to go back and be there for her, I don’t know why”  
“Because you have found your heart again brother” Arthur said hugging Sidney, then pulling away from him adding “But you really do smell, shower before you go”  
“Just as friends, not my heart to love her” Sidney said.  
“You have been so closed off and superficial, a friend is a good place to start. Not everyone is out for what they can get. She challenges you and I think you need it! Shower, but do not leave before I return!” Arthur said. 

Sidney got up and went to shower, while Arthur left to run an errand. 

Charlotte still hadn’t heard from Sidney, but she received a text message from Tom telling her that he had left Sanditon and could she cope with the tournament on her own. Charlotte felt a little sad at reading the text. Of course, she could cope on her own, she always had and always would, but despite being a pain in her arse, Sidney was growing on her. 

Charlotte showered after her class on the beach and threw on a vest top and some shorts, she sat at her laptop for an hour, trying to get some more work done for the tournament, then gave up and looked around for something to eat. She had not been shopping so there wasn’t a huge amount there, she considered walking down to the shops, but she didn’t feel like going out, she would made do with what she had. She put her music on and pottered around, singing to her favourite songs, doing a little cleaning and trying to relax, her mind was whirring a little when she turned her laptop off, but it was beginning to settle now. 

Charlotte made something with the bit she had in the kitchen and took her meal and a glass of wine out onto the patio to relax. No neighbour to spoil her peace, she sat back and relaxed after eating, reclining her chair slightly and opening her book. 

Sidney pulled up outside the flat just after just before seven, Arthur had given him a proper bunch of fancy flowers to apologise to Charlotte. He quietly let himself into the flat and as he reached the back of the flat, he could hear her singing, he gently opened the door so that he could enjoy it for a moment before she saw he was back and shouted at him.


	14. Fourteen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charlotte and Sidney have yet more miscommunication, but Sidney does have some entertaining theories to put to Charlotte

Charlotte was so engrossed with alternating between reading and singing that she didn’t realise the time until her phone rang. She picked her phone up and saw that it was Georgiana.  
“Hi George, what time are you getting in?” Charlotte asked, pleased to hear from her friend.  
“I can’t make it, I know I promised a girls weekend, but Otis has been arrested and the police won’t tell me anything and I need to be here for him.” Georgiana said, starting panic.  
“Oh my god George! I cannot begin to imagine what he might have done; he seems so lovely all the times I have seen him.”  
“I know, I mean, he’s a lawyer so I know he’ll have it all sorted as soon as possible, but his secretary told me when I rang, she said they came to his office. It is probably to answer questions about one of his client’s isn’t it?”  
“That must be it, they called to see him to get some answers, if it was serious, they would have taken him away in handcuffs and they didn’t, did they?”  
“No, his secretary said they asked him to go with them this afternoon and no one has heard from him since. I tried calling but no reply, so he must still be there, and I need to be here with him”  
“I understand, keep me updated, I will be ok on my own all weekend”

Sidney stood by the door listening to her conversation, telling himself not to listen to her conversation. Maybe now would be a good time to give her the flowers, he thought, she couldn’t tell him off for listening to her sing and it would cheer her up.

Sidney picked up the flowers off the table and walked out onto the patio, causing Charlotte to jump.   
“What the hell are you playing at sneaking up on people?” Charlotte shouted.  
“I knew you would shout at me, so I came prepared today!” Sidney said holding out the flowers.  
“They’re nice, who’s grave did you steal them from?”  
“Charlotte Heywood!” Sidney exclaimed. “I am a lot of things, but I would never, ever, steal flowers from a grave. I can’t believe you think that low of me!”  
“I’m sorry, you are right” Charlotte said, hanging her head. “Bad day, they are lovely”  
“Arthur chose them. Do you want a drink? Someone to talk to?”  
“I have wine, you can come over the fence if you promise not to be a drunken idiot”  
“Deal, can I still be a normal idiot?" He asked, "I haven’t eaten yet, I am ordering pizza, to yours, what do you want on your half and don’t say pineapple, or I am done with you, no matter how bad a day you’ve had”  
“Fine, if pineapple is off the menu, how about anchovies?”  
“Seriously, what sort of alien creature are you?!”  
“Olives?”  
“Again, NO”

Charlotte laughed, “Chicken, bacon, onion, something like that, whatever matches with yours. But you don’t have to worry about me, I’ve had something”  
“Yes, looks like something boring”  
“Haven’t been shopping, it was the scraps”

Sidney disappeared back into his flat to retrieve his phone to order the pizza, then came back out onto the patio, picked up his chair and placed it over the fence onto Charlotte’s patio, before jumping over to join her. Charlotte had taken the flowers in to the kitchen to put them in some water and get a glass and the bottle of wine.

“I didn’t actually think you were going to jump over the fence” Charlotte said as she came back out, carrying a glass and the bottle of wine and she was now wearing a cardigan over her vest.  
“Are you cold?” he asked, as he nodded toward the cardigan  
“I always cover the scar when I am not alone, it is not nice to look at and I don’t want to put other people off” Charlotte said.   
“I don’t mind” Sidney said casually,  
“I do” Charlotte said placing the bottle on the table and pulling the cardigan closer over her. Sidney decided not to press it with her, he was trying to be a little better behaved. 

“I suppose I am the cause of your bad day” Sidney said, honestly.  
“Is that why you ran away?”  
“Who said I ran away?”  
“Tom said you had left and that I would be doing things on my own now, makes no odds to me, I have always looked after myself” Charlotte said. Sidney thought he heard a hint of sadness in her voice.   
“Is that why you snap at people, pushing people away?”  
“I don’t, I am nice to everyone”  
“Except me?”  
“You do inspire an anger in me, you just can’t help needing to be top dog. How do you manage playing a team sport?”  
“Do you want to come and watch the match Sunday? Just because I am suspended, my brother can get us in”  
“Tom, that doesn’t surprise me, he does know everyone”  
“Arthur, my younger brother”  
“Maybe, can I think about it? I haven't been to a match since.... ” she didn't finish her sentence.  
“Sure” he said taking the glass of wine she had offered him.

“So, do you want to talk about your bad day?”  
“Not really, my friend Georgiana was supposed to come for a girl’s weekend, but her boyfriend, Otis, is in trouble with the police, so she’s staying up there”

Sidney heard the name Otis and that he was being questioned by the police. He considered that it could be the same Otis the the had been talking about with Arthur just a few hours ago, but if he said anything this could really cause some problems. Sidney knew that the driver of the car that hit Charlotte was unknown, how would it affect her relationship with her friend? did her friend know? Did Otis know the outcome of him giving the wrong name? Sidney felt awkward knowing this information and not being able to tell her. if he told her, she might not believe him, if he didn’t, how would she react if she discovered that he knew? Anyway, it might be another Otis, he thought, so best not to dwell too much on it. 

“And now you’re stuck with me for company” Sidney said,  
“Yes” Charlotte said, wondering how she felt about it. “Are you coming to the match tomorrow?” she asked, looking for safer ground. She felt like she needed to concentrate on not arguing with him, rather than enjoying his company.  
“Yes, what is our plan?”  
“Our plan?” Charlotte asked with some apprehension. “How about you tell me what you want the kids to do, and I help them do it, it seems to be the way you like to do things”  
“Did I take over at the school today?”  
“Pretty much, you were the superstar, again, you know someone who knows someone, I was just there as your secretary to write the notes for you and do your dirty work. You talk the talk, but don’t often walk the walk” Charlotte said.  
“What do you mean by that?”  
“Well, you are the face, you talk about all the people you know and what you can bring to the show, but when it comes to it, someone else does the work, makes sure you provide what you promise people. Whereas I work hard, trying to show my worth and you just took all that. Now Mr Jones is expecting your man to come and do some coaching at the school for the tennis, whereas you will leave, your man won’t commit to volunteering for a couple of weeks while we prove that kids are coming so that we can get the money to pay, then I will have to pick up the pieces and make it happen, because the children will expect tennis, if tennis is promised”

“Find money for it?”  
“Yes, money doesn’t just grow on trees, we have some funding from the sport communities for keeping the children off the streets, managing obesity, some from probation for rehabilitation, to keep the teenagers out of young offender institutes and such like, adults have less funding, they pay for most of their classes, so it is about finding need and affordability, it is a full-time job for me, and you are making it difficult. Tom wants a Sanditon football team and to enter it in the league, that means we need a coach and to win some matches, then if they do well and get promoted, they will need a ground. This tournament in the summer, we have eight teams in total, we need to decide how many matches, we need referees, where are we going to play, making sure teams get a break between matches, but we have a weekend, two full days to play them all, lots for me to get my head around”

“I don’t always think do I?” Sidney said  
“Not always”   
“I just assume that other people have opportunity and if they don’t then I should help, but there’s often more to things than just saying it”  
“Maybe you should take a minute to think before you speak” Charlotte said, but they were disturbed by a knock at the door.  
“Pizza” Sidney said, jumping up to go to the door.

Sidney returned with the pizza and a happy smile on his face. She had not really paid much attention to him before, but stood in the doorway smiling, he was actually very good looking, she found herself smiling back.   
“Let me bring the table out to put the box on” Charlotte said, standing to come in.  
“No, you don’t” Sidney said, handing her the pizza box. “I don’t want you doing any damage to that shoulder”  
“And there’s me thinking you were being a gentleman” Charlotte laughed.   
“It has been known” Sidney said narrowing his eyes at her as she laughed,   
“That does surprise me, I don’t see you as the romantic or gentlemanly type, I thought it was more that you had girls falling at your feet and it didn’t matter what you did, or how you behaved because these flaky types just wanted a famous footballer”

Sidney returned with the table.  
“Yeah, I have had my fair share of those, have a good time in a club, sometimes take one home, never see them again. There’s no conversation with them, you have to be drunk to enjoy yourself. I have seen some of my friends start to settle down, one of the boys is dating a supermodel because they both look good together, one of my team is after one of the ladies from your England ladies’ team, she keeps dismissing him, treats him a bit like you treat me”  
“Who’s that?”  
“Him or her?”  
“Her?”  
“Esther”  
Charlotte laughed, “Yeah, she’s a feisty one, she doesn’t take any shit, she doesn’t want someone who wants her for her status, but because they want her”  
“But she won’t let anyone get to know her”  
“If you care enough, you won’t give up, how do you think I got to be friends with her and know this about her”  
Sidney laughed and took a slice of pizza after offering Charlotte a slice first.

They ate the pizza, poured another glass of wine each and discussed the plans for the match tomorrow, the sun was setting, and it was getting colder. Charlotte shivered, drawing her legs up closer to her to keep warm. 

“Do you want a blanket?” Sidney asked.  
“Why? Have you got one?” Charlotte asked   
“No, but I can go next door and get you one of my jumpers or something” Sidney said, moving to stand up.  
“It’s ok” Charlotte said, standing, “I have a throw on my sofa” and she disappeared into her flat to retrieve the throw.   
“I’m just jumping over mine to get a jumper” Sidney shouted to her as he disappeared over the fence for a minute. 

“This sunset is spectacular” Sidney said, as they watched the last of the sun disappear.  
“That’s why I love living here” Charlotte said, “But I think we should be getting to bed, we’ve had a few drinks and we have the match tomorrow”  
“I don’t think that is a good idea Charlotte, you should be careful mixing business and pleasure” Sidney said, feeling a little awkward.

“Not together, you idiot!” Charlotte said. “I cannot imagine any scenario where we end up in bed together”  
“What if there was a fire and we all got evacuated, and it was snowing and there was no heating, and we were the last two people to arrive at the shelter and there was only one bed left?”  
“I would happily give it to you and freeze to death on the floor!”  
“What if I wouldn’t let you freeze to death and if I refused the bed to be a gentleman?”  
“Then we could both freeze to death, and wear all the clothes we could find”  
“What if you got hit over the head and had a concussion and had to be monitored overnight and I was the only person who could look after you?”  
“Then you would probably fall asleep first and I would either die of my concussion or get up and move somewhere not in bed with you”

“Am I really that bad?”  
“I would imagine so, I see you as the type who likes to sleep in the middle of the bed and hog all of the blankets, I can’t see that being any fun for anyone else”  
“Will if a disaster scenario ever happens and I have to have you in my bed, I will endeavour to provide two blankets, one each and allow you to kick me if I end up on the wrong side”  
“Thank you, I am reassured that if the impossible happens, that I will be well looked after, and I applaud you on your imagination, those were some pretty inventive scenarios” Charlotte said. 

Sidney stood and lifted his chair back over the fence.  
“What time are we leaving in the morning?” he asked before he left  
“Ten, the kids will be there around ten thirty, kick off is eleven. It’s twenty minutes each end, ten-minute break, finish for lunch. The burger van usually arrives in the carpark around quarter to twelve if you want anything”   
“I won’t say no, it’s the smell that draws you in on those things not the actual food” Sidney said.  
“I think you’re right, but as I only have a yoghurt in the fridge for breakfast, I will probably be starving by then.” Charlotte laughed. Sidney leaned forward to hug Charlotte before leaving but she recoiled.   
“Goodnight” she said putting a hand on his arm and stepped back for him to leave taking a sneaky peak at his tight bum as he climbed over the fence.


	15. Fifteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really long chapter for me, lots going on, took my whole lunch break to edit from last night's writing lol!

Sidney was up early, he had gone in the car to the bakery to get pastries for him and Charlotte for breakfast before the match, remembering that she had said she didn’t have a lot in, and knowing that he never did food shopping, his housekeeper did that, so he wouldn’t have much in his kitchen either. He knocked her door just before ten and she answered, smiling, but taking a phone call. Sidney held up the bag, showing he brought gifts, but her face was now looking pretty serious, and he worried that something was wrong.

Charlotte hung up the call.   
“Hey, on time and bringing breakfast” she said with half a smile.  
“Give a bloke a point for trying?”  
“Sure” she said flatly.  
“Everything ok?”  
“There’s been a development in the case for my car accident, the police wouldn’t say much over the phone, but they said they are coming out to see me this afternoon with an update”  
“Do you want me to be with you? Do you need a friend?”  
“I don’t know, it’s got me pretty shaken to be honest, bringing it all back up again”

“I have to tell you something Charlotte,” Sidney said suddenly as she picked at her croissant.  
“What trouble have you got yourself into now? I have enough on my plate, please don’t bring it to me, take it to Tom”  
“It’s about your accident”

Charlotte looked at him and took a step back from him, he could see her slightly shaking as if she were frightened of what he might say. 

“I know who the car belonged to, that hit you, and I know that he was not the driver” he said. Charlotte nodded   
“Yes, it was a stolen car”  
“Someone gave his name to debt collectors for gambling debt, a so-called friend of his, so the heavies came around, took the car and it was one of those who crashed the car into you then ran. My friend, well team mate, only recently found out the full details of who stole the car and why, so he went to the police to give the information”

Charlotte felt herself shaking physically this time and she felt like her legs might go from under her. Sidney could see the distress in her face and moved forward to hold her for support but she backed away, choosing to lean against the wall.   
“I was only told yesterday afternoon, I didn’t want to tell you anything as I didn’t know what the police would be doing about it, please don’t be mad at me”  
“Is that why you came back?”  
“It is a factor, a small factor. Are you ok to go to the match?” he asked stepping closer to her and attempting to comfort her, this time she did not resist.

Charlotte felt suddenly safe, being in Sidney’s arms, she had been closed off from people for so long and feeling alone, that she had forgotten what it was like to be comforted and cared for. She put an arm around him and gave him a little squeeze. Sidney was surprised, but instinctively held her a little tighter too. 

“Right, let’s go” she said moving back and wiping a stray tear away. “The kids need us; we can deal with the police this afternoon when they come”   
Charlotte turned and picked up her bags, which Sidney took from her, and they headed to the door. Sidney put her bags in his car, and she got in. Neither spoke on the short journey, but the radio saved them from complete silence and Charlotte hoped he wouldn’t notice her nerves at being a passenger again.

Charlotte started to set up for the match and the children started to arrive, their excitement was infectious, and Sidney started to feel himself excited. He started a little warm up session with the children and invited the other team to join in too, they were excited to see a famous footballer at their Saturday morning match and were excited to join in.

Charlotte watched with a smile as the children ran and jumped around with him, laughing and excited. Charlotte wished she could record them, to play back to Sidney so that he could see how the children responded to him when he was being a normal man, not his egotistical self. Charlotte felt like the bad guy when she blew her whistle to call the children back to start the match. They had a local referee from the pool of children’s match referee’s a young girl who had refereed for them before, her name was Hayley. She called the two teams, flipped a coin for who would kick off and the match began. 

Charlotte and Sidney stood on the side-lines watching the team play  
“We didn’t tell them what the plan was for the match” Charlotte said.  
“Let them enjoy it, I had forgotten how fun football could be until today.”   
They coached from the side-line, shouting to the children to pass and move out and Sidney picked Charlotte up and swung her around with joy when their team scored. It took Charlotte by surprise, but she liked this side to Sidney, and she laughed, a true enjoyment when it happened. 

They had their ten-minute interval and refreshed on water and Sidney commented on the lack of oranges which his mother used to bring when he was a child. Charlotte laughed, then talked to the children about the second half and congratulated them on their goal.   
“Now, you played really well in the first half. Don’t forget to spread out so the ball can be passed out, if you are all bunched up you leave the pitch open to the other team to get around you. Joel, your passing was so much stronger today, well done” she said.  
“Don’t be afraid to call your team mates, so they know you are there, if you are out on the wing, the person with the ball might not be able to see you if he’s being crowded, good defending and stopping the other team score, is just as important as scoring yourself” Sidney said. Then sent them all back out onto the pitch. 

“Who is this Sidney?” Charlotte asked as the children ran off.  
“He has been lost for a long while” Sidney said.   
The children played well and got a second goal in the second half, the away team also managed to get in a last-minute goal just before the whistle. 

Sidney walked onto the pitch and encouraged the Sanditon team to shake hands with the opposition and tell them ‘well done’ before they all ran off to join the queue for the burger van, if they were not going straight home. Sidney surprised Charlotte by coming onto the pitch to help her clear up. 

“Can I buy you a burger before we head off to meet the police?” Sidney asked as he put the bags in his car. Charlotte sighed; she had forgotten they were meeting the police.   
“No, you bought breakfast, it’s my treat” Charlotte said, “What do you fancy?”  
Sidney grinned a cheeky grin, if he was with the boys, he would give a smart answer, but with her, he had to stop that. “Cheeseburger with onions”  
“No kissing for you then” Charlotte said with a wink as she walked off, Sidney followed,  
“What do you mean?” Sidney asked, looking confused.   
“No girl wants to kiss a man with onion breath!” She said, as if it was perfectly obvious.  
“Well, I had better cancel my date for tonight” he said taking his phone from his pocket. Charlotte laughed, stepping up to order the burgers. 

Sidney text Arthur and not any supermodel date he might have been planning.  
“Police are coming out to see Charlotte this afternoon, told her about Edward, but not about Otis. I’ll keep you updated”  
“Don’t f*ck up” came the reply  
Sidney laughed loudly.

“She didn’t like your excuse?” Charlotte said handing him his burger  
“She said she had just had garlic so was going to cancel anyway” he smiled, taking the burger, “Thank you”  
“Garlic and onion are from the same family, so the kissing might have been ok” Charlotte said with a raised eyebrow. “Where were you taking her?”  
“Nowhere, I haven’t had a proper date in about three years, not someone I have chosen to go out with, a few blind dates to help the boys out but nothing serious or chosen”  
“Who made you laugh then?”  
“Arthur!”   
“You seem close, I would have liked that with one of my siblings, maybe I should try and reconnect with Alison” she said, her mind wandering as she walked toward the car  
“Oi, Heywood, don’t even think about touching my car or trying to get in with that messy burger” he shouted as he ambled over behind her. Charlotte put her hand out as if to touch the car and giggled, pulling her hand away before contact as she saw him moving quickly toward her. Sidney also laughed as he realised, she was teasing him, and they stood by the car eating their burgers.

“Ready to go back?” he said as he took her serviette to put in the bin  
“Not really, I am not sure I am ready to go through all of this again and so soon after this surgery”  
“I will be with you, if you want me, but if you don’t, I won’t, I know you are private about your life and I am still a stranger really”  
“I think it would be good to have someone there, if you are sure”  
“Come on,” he said, opening the car door for her, another example of being a gentleman, “We’ve had a great morning with the kids, let’s get this over with, so that we can celebrate”   
Charlotte got in the car and they drove back

“You were really good with the kids, I think you made a difference, I mean, we haven’t lost a match since I took over, but they enjoyed your encouragement”  
“Haven’t lost a match is it, well done Heywood” he said  
“We haven’t won that many either, to be honest, a lot of draws but you know, not lost a match yet”  
“Well, that is a slight exaggeration of your talent there don’t you think?”   
“Not at all! No losses are brilliant, the team we play next week are top of the table, they are our biggest competition”  
“Then we had better pull our socks up at training on Tuesday” Sidney said. 

The journey was a lot shorter in the car and they were back before she realised. Sidney got the bags from the car and brought them in, Charlotte put the kettle on and instinctively flicked the button for her music. Sidney sat and watched as she pottered around, singing again.   
“You love music, don’t you?” He said, hoping she would not be mad at being listened to.  
“I do, and now that my professional football life is over, this is all I have left”  
“Come to the ground, watch the match tomorrow, it’ll do you good to be in that environment again”  
“Let’s see how it goes this afternoon” she said, still apprehensive.

The police officer knocked the door around forty-five minutes later. Charlotte showed him in and introduced Sidney, though she could tell by his face that he recognised him, she wasn’t sure if that we due to his football or his bad behaviour, maybe this officer had arrested him already. 

“Hi Charlotte, thanks for meeting with me, I have an update for you, and it is not all good news I am afraid.” He said. Charlotte put her hand on Sidney’s arm and braced herself.  
“Ok, just tell me then” she said, and she took a deep breath.   
“Well, the owner of the car that hit you has come forward with some information that he claims has only recently come to light. At present, he is not being charged with anything but that could change as our investigation goes ahead. A gentleman by the name of Keith Howard has been charged with dangerous driving and leaving the scene of an accident and driving without insurance. He had taken the vehicle without permission, but on the assumption that the owner of the vehicle owed a large debt from gambling. The actual person who was in debt to Mr Howard was an Otis Molyneaux” he said, and Charlotte gasped. Sidney put his hand on her.  
“Are you sure Otis Molyneaux?” she said, in disbelief.  
“Yes, do you know Mr Molyneaux?” the officer asked.   
“He is the boyfriend of my dearest friend, Georgiana, he is a lawyer”  
“Yes, an unethical lawyer if you ask me” the officer said, then carried on, “He gave the name Edward Denham to avoid paying repaying the debt, which then brought on the turn of events. Mr Molyneaux is being charged with obstruction for a start” 

Charlotte couldn’t speak.  
“Shall I get you a glass of water?” Sidney asked. Charlotte nodded, but held on to him, so that he couldn’t get up. The officer, seeing the reaction, got up and went to find the kitchen to make her a glass of water.  
“Did you know it was Otis?” she asked Sidney.  
“It was suggested to me yesterday that he was involved”  
“Did you recognise him in the club when you lost it?”  
“No, but I had a sense that he thought he knew me from something he said when he pushed me. Did you know him before the accident?”  
“No, George only introduced him after I came out of hospital the first time, she had met him while I had been in there”

Sidney considered this suspicious, that he appear in her life after her accident, maybe hoping to keep his name out of it, or at least getting a heads up if she did become aware. He kept his thoughts to himself as the officer returned with the glass of water. 

“Do you need a break?” the officer asked.  
“No, just get on with it” she said, the shock turning to anger.   
“Well, that is pretty much it, Otis has been released, but I would suggest that you don’t have any contact with him due to the nature of the case”  
“Ok” Charlotte said.

The officer reached into his pocket and handed Sidney a card.  
“Will you be staying with Miss Heywood for a while, I appreciate this is a lot to digest, I wouldn’t like to leave her alone, I can arrange a liaison otherwise.”  
“I live next door, so I can be on hand for as long as she needs me”  
“Call if you have any questions, otherwise I will be in touch when there is more information”  
“Thank you” Sidney said, standing to see the officer out, as Charlotte had laid her head against the back of the sofa and closed her eyes” 

Sidney returned and sat next to Charlotte.  
“Tell me what you want me to do, we both know I am not the best at trying to be helpful”  
“I don’t know what I want” Charlotte said, fearing she might cry. At that moment, her phone rang. Sidney leaned forward to pick it up from the arm of the sofa.  
“It’s Georgiana, do you want to speak to her?”  
“No” she said firmly,   
“Do you want me to speak to her?”  
“Up to you” she snapped.

“Hello, this is Sidney on Charlotte’s phone” Sidney said, answering the phone.  
“Oh, the prick from next door” Georgiana replied.   
“That is me, though given the current circumstances, I may have redeemed myself slightly”  
“Can I speak to her?”  
“No, she is not very well at the moment, she has just had a visit from the Met regarding her accident.”  
There was silence for a moment.

“Can I give her a message?” Sidney asked,   
“Tell her I’m sorry, tell her I have to stand by Otis, I don’t believe he did this intentionally and he never meant for anyone to get hurt in avoiding a silly debt. I don’t want it to affect our friendship”  
“I’ll pass on the message and don’t worry about Charlotte; I will step up and support her” Sidney said and terminate the call without so much as a goodbye.

“A hug or a clifftop walk?” Sidney said, putting her phone down.  
“Can I have both?” Charlotte said, allowing a small part of her vulnerability to show to him.  
“Of course,” Sidney said, pulling her closer to him.

Charlotte leaned into his chest and absorbed the warmth, using his heartbeat to calm her. When her own heartrate settled, she pulled away from him.   
“Walk on the clifftops to clear our head, then a celebration for our football team?” she said, smiling at him.  
“Let’s go” Sidney said, standing up and putting a hand out to her.


	16. Sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have to apologise, the story just keeps coming. This is truly the longest chapter I have ever written, sorry to those who prefer my shorter ones. It is gone 1am and I really should get to bed now

Charlotte walked at a fast pace to begin with, which surprised Sidney, as he tried to keep up. Once she reached the top of the hill, her frustration was starting to ease and she began to slow, unless of course, she was just exhausted from going uphill. Either way, Sidney was relieved to slow down. Charlotte had not spoken a word since they left her flat and Sidney was too out of breath to speak. He watched as she sat on her favourite rock. Sidney sat on the grass next to her.

“If I had known we were doing a pace, I would have brought a bottle of water” Sidney said, for something to say.  
“I needed to stamp out some of the frustration.” Charlotte said, looking out at the sea and beyond.  
“You didn’t ask what Georgiana wanted”  
“If I know George, it’s to tell me she’s standing by Otis, it is all a mistake, Otis is not like that and she will have it sorted shortly”   
“Oh”  
“Exactly. I’m good, I have dragged myself up alone since I was twelve, I don’t need anyone else in my life”  
“What if someone wanted to be there for you?”  
“I can’t think of anyone who would step up, I know where I stand”  
“What if I wanted to be your friend?”  
“What would you want in return?”  
“To not argue, I am tired of it, I had such a good morning with those children, it has given me a little something to think about” 

“You know I am not mad at you, don’t you?” Charlotte said, in a slightly calmer voice  
“Not really, you are often mad at me and I don’t always know what I have done wrong. It is pretty much a given now, if you shout at me, I should just go and figure out what I’ve done. But I sort of feel like you have been shit on and need a friend and I promised that police officer I would look after you”  
“To be honest, you have surprised me in sticking round this afternoon, I kept waiting for you to screw up or run away and I had a feeling that officer knew you”  
“He may have arrested me once”  
“Yeah, I had that a lot, another reason for moving away, one too many arrests and I needed a fresh start”

“Excuse me?” Sidney said, in a little higher pitch than usual  
“That’s for another day, see how long you stick around before you get that information”  
“Oh, I am in for the long haul if there’s juicy gossip to come. Apart from tomorrow, I am going back for my team to watch the match and see my brother”

Charlotte put her head in her hands. Sidney started to panic, he didn’t know what to do in these situations, what if she cried? He couldn’t do crying! He needed her to tell him what to do.

“If you don’t tell me I can’t help” Sidney said, getting to his feet and pacing back and forth. He really wished he had a bottle of water now, both for drinking as his mouth was dry from this panic and from walking up the hill, but also so that he had something to play with to distract his hands and calm him. “Please don’t cry” he said to himself. “I don’t know what to do with crying”

Charlotte stood up, she was aware of him pacing and it was irritating her almost as much as the visit from the police had. 

“Stop pacing or I walk home alone!” she shouted at him. He stopped and looked at her.  
“I don’t know what to do and crying women frighten me” he snapped back. Here was the arguing he wanted to avoid. She stared at him, making him feel even more uncomfortable.

“I know” he said, suddenly having what he considered to be the best idea “I will ring Arthur, he knows what to do”  
“No wonder you haven’t had a girlfriend in so long, you are absolutely useless in a crisis”  
“Diana deals with them for me” he said, then thought that this statement was not showing him in a good light either.  
“So basically, you are a child in a man’s body, with a brother and sister who care for you full time”  
“My house keeper does a lot too, it’s not just them” he said proudly, credit where credit is due, his siblings were not perfect either.

Charlotte rolled her eyes and turned to walk away from him. This walk was supposed to make her feel better, but her anger and frustration was still there.

Sidney grabbed his phone in desperation, Arthur answered on the first ring  
“How did it go with the police?” he said, no hello, it wasn’t necessary with his brother.  
“I need help, she’s frustrated and she’s snapping at me, then she said she wasn’t mad at me, then she called me a man child and she looks like she might cry”  
“Kiss her, it’ll cheer her up”  
“What?” Sidney shrieked, causing Charlotte to turn round.  
“Trust me!” Arthur said, “But if she cries, hold her and tell her she’ll be ok”  
“Why would she cry if I kiss her” Sidney whispered  
“If she cries before you kiss her you idiot. Keep me posted” Arthur said, then hung up, leaving Sidney just as confused as he was before he rang.

“What does the oracle say?” Charlotte asked, standing with her hands on her hips, pouting. 

Sidney swallowed, she looked so damn sexy pouting like that, maybe Arthur was right about kissing her, he thought.

“Umm, not much help” Sidney said, “Two suggestions, neither appropriate, I don’t think”  
“Fair enough, suppose you’ll ring Diana or Tom or the housekeeper next” she said shrugging  
“No, my housekeeper is great with the house, but not with women, I mean she is a woman so maybe she knows more than I give her credit for, but she makes one hell of a pasta, you will have to come and try it, or maybe I can get her to make one tomorrow after the football, if you don’t come, I’ll bring some back for you. Tom definitely doesn’t know women, he messes up with Mary a lot, how they have had four kids I don’t know”  
“It is called sex, it is something married people do often, and drunk people” Charlotte said  
“I know how they had kids, I just don’t know how he got her to be interested, what about you?”  
“Not interested in Tom either sorry”  
“I mean sex, well boyfriends and the like”  
“Neither, for a very long time” Charlotte said, changing her stance, feeling things were getting a little personal and she wasn’t quite sure where the conversation was going, but staring at him, thinking that if she was in fact drunk, she could happily find herself taking him to bed for a refresher. Charlotte turned to look back out over the cliffs, to stop herself mentally undressing the man in front of her.

“I am so confused” Sidney said. “Arthur said, if you cry, I should hold you, if you are sad, I should kiss you to cheer you up”  
“I want to come tomorrow, I miss the football, the atmosphere, the stadiums, but I am frightened to go all that way as a passenger again” Charlotte said and as the words came out, the tears started to fall. Sidney stepped closer to her; he could hear the crack in her voice.  
“Come here” he said and held his arms open to her. she stepped in and he pulled her close and let her cry. This wasn’t as bad as he had thought, maybe Arthur did know a thing or two about women after all. A part of him wanted to cry too, it was a strange feeling, and he wasn’t sure what it was or why he was feeling it. 

“Do you want to share the driving, I’ll get Diana to sort the insurance out, try being a passenger, if it gets too much, take over the driving” Sidney said, then suddenly realised what words had come out of his mouth. He never let anyone drive his baby. He couldn’t take them back now.   
“You would do that for me?” Charlotte asked, moving to look at him.   
“I would” Sidney said, looking back at her. She was close enough to kiss, he thought about it, he wanted to, but he couldn’t. He promised to be the friend she needed, and they still had a lot to learn about each other. Before he realised, she leaned up and kissed him. A small kiss on his lips, nothing erotic, but oh so electric. 

“Come, let’s walk down to the beach” she said, taking his arm and linking hers through.  
“Um, yes, sure” Sidney said, confused about what had just happened.

Charlotte stopped on the sand and took her trainers off, leaving them, she ran to the shore and jumped into the water, letting it splash up her legs, she laughed like a child and Sidney smiled to see her enjoying herself. Taking his trainers off, he ran down to join her. Charlotte kicked water over him as he got close and he screamed, then laughed, before kicking water back at her. Their playfulness continued with laughter and a lightness, the stress of the day melting away, until a larger wave came up behind Charlotte and she lost her balance falling into the sea. She laughed, then screeched, clutching her shoulder as she fell. Sidney panicked again, running to her and scooping her up in his arms. He held her tight to him and carried her up the beach to retrieve their shoes, then carried her all the way home. 

He sat her on the sofa in his flat then disappeared, coming back with ice and a pair of his shorts and a t-shirt.  
“Take the wet clothes off then put ice on your shoulder, I’ll ring Arthur now, he’ll know what to do” he said.   
“Can you help?” Charlotte said, wincing at the pain as she tried to move her arm.   
Sidney stood in front of her looking at her.  
“Come on Parker” she said, in a more frustrated tone, partly due to the pain, partly due to him being a man child and needing instruction. “You have undressed a woman before, I am confident of that, now please, just help me get my T-shirt off”   
Sidney stepped forward and kneeled in front of her. Gently, he grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt and pulled it up, pausing as she took her good arm out of the arm hole, then telling Sidney to pull it over her head so that she could slide the bad arm out. She sat in just her sport bra, her scar on show for Sidney to see properly and up close for the first time. He gently ran a finger over it, and she winced.

“Let me video call Arthur before we put the t-shirt on, let him see it. I don’t want to put you through more pain if you dress now”  
“Ok,” Charlotte whispered, feeling conscious that Sidney was so close to her seeing her scar, but also annoyed at herself for not being so careful.

Arthur answered, “Two calls in one day, I’m honoured.” He started, then saw the look on Sidney’s face. “What’s up?”  
“Charlotte fell, can I show you her shoulder, she can’t move it, she’s in pain”  
“Yes, show me now”

Sidney moved the phone as per Arthur’s instructions, Charlotte moved as he asked her and answered his questions.

“I want you to get a scan, can you get it done locally or do you want to come up to me?”  
“You are joking, I am not sitting in the local hospital for six hours on a Saturday night full of drunks and idiots” Charlotte said, “Can it wait until tomorrow, we are coming up for the match, we can come early?”  
“Sure, ice it for quarter of an hour now, again before bed and first thing in the morning, take some anti-inflammatory if you have sone and pain killers, try and get some rest. No heavy lifting, not even the kettle, until I have seen it. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?” he said, emphasising the last sentence.

“I will make sure she doesn’t” Sidney said, “Can you sort us out in the box for tomorrow?”  
“Done” Arthur said, “Try and get that bra off her too, loose t-shirt, no pressure on it until I know what we’re dealing with, maybe prop a pillow under it to help her sleep. I’ll ring Maria, get the guest room sorted at your place in case you cannot travel back tomorrow”  
“Ask her to make her pasta for us too for lunch before the match” Sidney said smiling  
“Only if you bring some down for me?”  
“Sure, I’ll text when we’re leaving, it will take about two hours up, I don’t want to put my foot down and hurt her more”  
“Big brother, I am proud of you, when it came to the crunch and an actual emergency occurred, you stepped up. The real you dealt with it instead of the worried you or the flashy you, trust your gut” Sidney thought Arthur was going to cry as he spoke, his pride easy for anyone to see.   
Sidney blushed and said goodbye.

“If I close my eyes, we have to try and take the bra off” Sidney said, feeling nervous. “You’ll have to talk me through it if I’m blind.”  
Charlotte took Sidney’s hand with her good hand, she placed one of his hands under the strap on her bad shoulder “Hold this here, so it doesn’t dig into the shoulder” she said, then she placed the other hand under the elastic band on her good side, under her arm. “Now close your eyes” she said, and he obeyed.   
“Lift the elastic from my side so I can slide my good arm out” she said, and he followed her instructions, “Support the shoulder now while lifting it over my head”. Sidney did that and she picked up his top holding it across her chest.   
“You can open if you need to” she said, “and slide it down the bad arm.”

Sidney looked at her, “now what?” he asked.   
“Your t-shirt is big enough to cover me draped over me for a minute” she said, “It’s tiring” she sighed, leaning back on his sofa. “Give me a minute”  
“I’ll run down the shop for the medication” Sidney suggested, and something for tea.  
“Ah bugger” Charlotte said, “I was supposed to go shopping today”  
“Well, you’re not going now!” Sidney said, “Give me a list”  
“Just get a loaf of bread and something I can cook us for tea, the rest can wait” she said, “Here’s my key for the flat, my purse is in my handbag in my bedroom, there might be painkillers in the cabinet in the bathroom”  
“You are not cooking” Sidney said  
“And you don’t even know what a kitchen is for, so it’s me or starve!” she said.  
“No Charlotte, I am putting my foot down, you have to look after yourself” he sounded a mix of angry and upset,   
Charlotte sighed, “Get me a piece of paper” 

Sidney couldn’t find one in his flat, so he popped next door to hers. While he was gone, Charlotte had somehow got her head in the t-shirt he had left her and slotted her good arm in and shimmied out of her wet shorts. This would do until she needed to walk home, she thought. She picked the ice up from the table and placed it on her shoulder. It stung for a bit but eased as it started to do its magic.

Sidney came back with painkillers and some paper and a pen. 

‘From entrance – first aisle, pre-pack of 4 jacket potatoes, two shelves above, pre-pack mixed salad, second aisle, mayonnaise – bottom shelf, turn around, tuna in a tin, blue wrapper. Fourth aisle – pain killer and anti-inflammatory tablets. Back wall, bread, medium slice, brown or wholemeal, last aisle, drinks, lemonade and whatever you want’

She handed Sidney the note. He read it and smiled  
“You’re a keeper Heywood” he said, “This is my kind of note”   
“Where’s my purse?” she asked  
“I forgot; you pay next time”   
“You did this on purpose, but at least you can cook the jacket potatoes. Ring me if you get stuck”

Sidney asked if she needed anything else, he offered her tea as he had tea bags in the cupboard but didn’t have any milk. She handed him the pen.  
“Milk bottom of the first aisle in the fridge past the fruit and veg” she said  
“Do you want the television on?” he asked  
“Radio will do” she smiled,   
“Have you got your phone in case you need me?”  
“Yes, it’s here” she said as it rang. “Georgiana again” she said showing him the screen.  
“Leave it for today” he said, leaning over and kissing her forehead. Ten minutes left on that ice, don’t overdo it. Leave it out, I’ll put it back in the freezer box when I get back” he said, taking charge for a minute. Charlotte nodded and they both knew she would get up and put it away herself.

Sidney returned from the shop to find Charlotte asleep on the sofa, she had, as he suspected, put the ice back in the freezer. Sidney put the stuff away that he had bought, he was pretty proud of himself and he thought Arthur would be too. He wanted to start cooking but he didn’t know what to do. He got his phone out and googled the instructions for the potatoes. Even he couldn’t get that wrong. The instruction manual for the cooker was in the drawer, and in less than twenty minutes, he had the oven on and coming to temperature. He put the cans of lemonade in the fridge and went in to put a blanket on Charlotte, but she woke when the door of the bedroom banged. Sidney cursed himself for being so careless.

“Sorry” he said as he stood in front of her with the blanket.  
“Don’t be, if I sleep now, I won’t sleep tonight” she said  
“Take my bed tonight, I’ll sleep out here, I’ll be awake worrying all night otherwise”   
Charlotte hesitated, “I don’t need looking after” she said.  
“I bet you checked yourself out of hospital too”   
“I was in for months after the accident, I couldn’t wait to get out, I couldn’t even shower myself or wash my own hair, it was awful, I can’t believe I was only just getting back to normal after this one and now this” 

Sidney could see she was getting upset again and put a hand to pull her up  
“Let’s get these potatoes in the oven, then you can feel sorry for yourself” he said. Charlotte smiled.   
“Today has been a long day hasn’t it?” she said  
“It has been very eventful, that’s for sure. I think I have felt every emotion today too”  
“You’ve grown up a bit today too”

Charlotte wrapped the potatoes in foil and placed them in the oven, one of her favourite songs came on the radio and she began to sing. When she finished what she was doing, Sidney took her good hand and pulled her close, surprising Charlotte that he could dance.  
When the song finished, Charlotte talked Sidney through preparing the salad and the tuna to make a meal when the potatoes were done, she was pleased that he had butter in the fridge, telling him the benefits of butter melting into the potato. They made a good team, Sidney had a surprising caring side to him, despite Charlotte being adamant he was self-centred, the more she got to see this kind Sidney, the more she wanted to be around him and learn more about him, and he was surprised that Charlotte was so capable, even with one working arm, she still needed forcing to allow him to help. He wondered about her life, why she was so quick to do things and not accept help. The more he learnt about her, the more he wanted to learn about her


	17. Seventeen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arthur meets Charlotte, Crowe asks Charlotte on a date and Sidney learns something that could put yet another spanner in the works

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, a super long chapter this time  
> **Some bad language**  
> I want this Arthur to be my brother!!!

Sidney woke up and was still laying on top of the blankets of his bed and he was cold. Charlotte was asleep in his bed, still with the pillow supporting her shoulder. They had fallen asleep talking. He gently moved to get up and go to the sofa where he had left the blanket earlier on.   
“Stay” Charlotte said as she stirred. Sidney hesitated, but she turned to face him. “Stay” she said again. Sidney moved the duvet and climbed in, Charlotte rolled onto her good arm, resting her head on his shoulder and her bad arm on his chest and just a few minutes later, he felt her heavier as she fell asleep on him. He kissed the top of her head and soon drifter off himself. 

Charlotte woke with the pain in her shoulder, it wasn’t as bad as it had been when she fell, but it was enough to wake her. She realised she was still cuddled up to Sidney and tried to move away so that she could get up and get medication. Her bad arm was painful to move, and her good arm was dead from laying on it, she was temporarily stuck. She moved her leg to try and roll onto her back, but she accidentally kicked Sidney and he woke too.   
“Are you ok?” he asked,  
“Go back to sleep, I’m just trying to roll so that I can get up and get painkillers.  
“Charlotte please, for once, just let me help you” he said, moving and supporting her shoulder to roll her onto her back and putting the pillow in place for support, before getting out of bed and getting more tablets and a fresh glass of water. When he returned, he placed them on the bedside table and sat on the edge of the bed to help her to sit up.

Sidney checked the time; it was half six in the morning.  
“How early is it?” Charlotte asked  
“Half six”  
“Early morning run?” she asked, with a smile  
“Definitely not!” he said, smiling back.  
“Another hour?”   
“Yes, leave about ten, leisurely drive, two hours for Arthur, back to mine for pasta, then back to the ground for kick off at three”   
“Leisurely drive in your car?”  
“Well as you can’t share the driving, I want you to be able to stop as many times as you need to”   
“I don’t deserve a friend like you” she said putting her hand on his as he still sat next to the bed, he put the glass back now that she was done with it, “Help me up so I can use your toilet?” she asked.  
“Of course,” he said, helping her get out of bed. When she returned, he got her comfortable again, but they ended up talking again and not going back to sleep. 

“Are you scared about seeing Arthur?” Sidney asked  
“Not of your brother, he seems like a good bloke, but of what he will say”  
“Whatever it is, we’ll get through it”  
“Until your suspension is over, and you go back to London and pick up with one of your models and forget all about me”   
“Maybe you could spend a bit of time back in London?”  
“No, when all this comes out and my face is plastered in the papers again, I’ll never be able to set foot in London again, I am happy hiding here for now”  
“And Willingden is a definite no?”  
“Oh yes, my reputation comes in a different form again there”  
“The criminal record?”  
“Yes, that and the dysfunctional family, all those kids, the mother who tried to sell the story of her daughter, far too much bad stuff there”  
“What will you wear today?”  
“My Arsenal Ladies shirt of course”  
“You cannot wear your arsenal top to a Palace match”  
“Who are you playing against?”  
“Aston Villa”  
“Fine, I’ll wear a loose-fitting shirt, easier to get on, buttons up the front instead of over the head, especially as I’ll have to take it off for the scans etc.”

“The lads are looking forward to meeting you” Sidney said, as he returned with tea,   
“I’m not sure about that”   
“Nonsense, you’ll be great when you’re there” Sidney was feeling excited about going now, and whilst his excitement was endearing to watch, he was on the edge of moving back into the Sidney she was not so keen on, the one who thought he could do anything and because it was him, everyone would go along with him. 

“I suppose I had better go next door and get ready” Charlotte said, feeling the need to escape before things turned.   
“Leave the patio doors open then so you can shout if you need me, I can jump over the fence again”  
“You do realise that I had surgery just nine weeks ago and I live alone?”  
“So?”  
“So, I coped perfectly well after that on my own, you only had to help yesterday because I wasn’t expecting it” Charlotte said. Sidney could see she was going back into herself and wondered if he had said or done something  
“Are you just nervous about my driving?”  
“A little” she said, she was also nervous that she was in his bed and enjoying his company a little too much and she knew that he was not the type of person she wanted to be involved with, he was a one-night stand man, he would not only break her heart but would stamp all over it and laugh about it, then have no idea what he had done.   
“Fine, humour me, leave the doors to prove you don’t need any help”   
“You will just follow me home now and force the door open, anyway won’t you?”  
“No, if you don’t agree I’ll walk you home and sit in your flat singing like a strangled cat until someone calls the police, or you put a pillow over my face”  
“Tempting, maybe I won’t agree, I’ll have a nice car for my getaway too” she laughed, getting herself out of bed. 

Sidney saw her off from the front door and walked through to the patio doors to stand and wait for her to open hers, to which she obliged. She showered and managed a vest top; a bra was too much again today but she needed something so Arthur could get to her shoulder. She put on a pair of leggings and opened her closet for a shirt, all of them needed ironing and she berated herself for not having done it when she was more able to.

Sidney could hear banging and crashing and swearing from the open door, he stepped outside and shouted over to her.  
“All good, stupid ironing board being an arse” she shouted back.  
“Shit” he said to himself, “Why did I not learn to iron?”  
He jumped over the fence anyway and through into her lounge.   
“Let me” he said taking the ironing board from her. “How does it work?”   
Charlotte talked him through how to set it up, then laid her shirt out, she could iron with her shoulder, that was not an issue, it was the board that was the problem.  
“Can I watch?” Sidney asked  
“Why?”  
“I suppose I should learn what to do”  
“You think?!” Charlotte said sarcastically. “Have you ever had to fend for yourself?”  
“No, mum is great, Diana is like a second mother, my house keeper is wonderful, Mary will pitch in if I ask nicely”  
Charlotte shook her head.  
“Who taught you?”  
“Me”  
“What about your parents?”  
“What about them? they never had time for me, they have all their other kids to think about. I lived in my own flat before I even finished school, had to budget and work hard and learn as I went along”

Sidney felt a pang of sadness, but also some understanding of her independence. The people who should have looked out for her didn’t, why would anyone else step up? She inspired him to be a little less spoilt.  
Dressed, she was ready to go. Sidney went to put the board down again,  
“Leave it, if I need to wear shirts again until I can put stuff over my own head, I need to iron then all” Charlotte said, so he just moved it up against the wall for her, out of the way.  
“I’ll go sort myself, meet you at the car in 5” Sidney said, stepping back out onto the patio and jumping back to his side.

Charlotte was nervous on the drive up, but Sidney did well to distract her with his awful singing and telling her stories of his team. At one point she found herself singing a duet to Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, and they laughed together at how poor his singing truly was, but how much he enjoyed her side of the song.   
“Have I put you off singing with me again?” Sidney asked  
“Not yet, ask me on the way home” she laughed. 

Before they knew it, they were pulling into the players car park at the stadium and Sidney told her to stay in the car until he came around to help. Charlotte secretly liked his attentiveness, but she was adamant he was not going to know it.

He opened the car door and helped her out, shutting the door behind her. They walked together to the entrance and Sidney entered the keycode to get in. Charlotte took a deep breath as they walked down the corridor, which felt like it was the longest she had ever walked, of course it wasn’t, she had made harder walks when her hip was healing and she needed a stick for support, but she didn’t want him to know that. 

Sidney stopped at the door to Arthur’s physio room. They had all the scanners and x-ray machines on site for the players, so that they could act quickly when necessary. Sidney knocked and Charlotte grabbed his hand.   
“My brother is a good person Charlotte” he said, giving her hand a squeeze.  
“What if I am like this for life, can’t even dress myself properly?”  
“Then we cross that bridge when we come to it” he said lovingly and for the briefest of moments, her heart fluttered, and she wanted to kiss him.

Arthur shouted for whoever it was to come in and Sidney opened the door.  
“Baby brother” he shouted going to greet his brother fondly. “This is Charlotte”   
“I know full well who the delightful Mis Heywood is, I watched all forty-two goals she scored last season” Arthur said, going in to hug her too. Charlotte tensed and Arthur apologised,  
“The shoulder, I am so sorry, I was just so excited to meet you” he said  
“It’s ok, I am not the easiest of patients I am afraid” she said  
“Believe me, you can’t be as bad as Sidney here, tell him one thing, he does the opposite”  
“That does not surprise me” Charlotte laughed

“I cooked for us both last night” Sidney cut in, not wanting his reputation totally tarnished now that he and Charlotte were getting along. Arthur laughed, a full belly, shoulder bouncing laugh, at one point there were tears falling down his face he laughed so hard.   
“I think that is a bit of an exaggeration” Charlotte said.  
“Now, tell me the truth Charlotte, what did my brother actually do? I mean he thinks opening a packet of crisps for you is providing you with a meal” Arthur said  
“I wrote him a detailed list, what aisle, what shelf, what to buy, he made a lovely, prepacked salad from the supermarket, put two jacket potatoes in the oven, under instruction and opened a tin of tuna. Full on hardcore cooking” Charlotte explained.  
“Well, well, Miss Heywood is obviously having a good impression on you brother” Arthur said, then turned to Charlotte, “Now, come sit on the bed for me to assess this shoulder”

Charlotte followed him and Sidney picked her up and sat her on the bed, Charlotte blushed, and Arthur smiled.   
“One second Charlotte, I shall be right back” Arthur said and disappeared into his desk drawer, returning with a thermometer, which he proceeded to put in Sidney’s ear much to his surprise.  
“Temperature normal” Arthur said, with a tone of surprise. “I’ll examine you next” he said to Sidney.  
“Why, what is wrong with me?” Sidney asked, a hint of panic in his voice.  
“I don’t know yet, might need the doctor to consult on this one, I haven’t seen this kind Sidney before, holding door, helping people up, offering to cook, shopping alone, I am very worried. Do you need a lie down?”   
Charlotte giggled and Sidney punched his brother playfully in the arm. Arthur feigned pain then returned his attention to Charlotte.

“I don’t think it is anything too serious, a little setback in your current rehab, but I want to x-ray just in case” Arthur said, Charlotte breathed a little sigh of relief, Sidney took her hand,  
“See, I told you my brother was the best, he got this job because of me”  
“I got this job in spite of you, you mean, you have a reputation for being selfish and big headed, I had to prove that I was the best physio in the country and not just in it for the glory”  
“Does everyone really think that about me?” Sidney asked, surprised and a little disappointed.  
“Yes, and the fact that you are not aware of it, shows how up your own arse you really are” Arthur said, seriously. “Be grateful that I love you and I can see there is someone else under all that!”   
“He was so horrendous when I first met him, I could have happily thrown him off the cliffs without a second thought, but I do have a bad shoulder, so was biding my time. He has improved and quite surprised me yesterday and today. Can you do anything about the singing though?”  
Arthur laughed, “Sadly no, the passion is there but the poor boy cannot carry a tune in a bucket”  
“But you should here Charlotte, voice of an angel” Sidney said,  
“I don’t sing for anyone other than myself” Charlotte said. Sidney took his phone out and pressed play on his music app.  
“Just you wait, brother, she cannot help herself when the right song hits her” Sidney said, smiling and turning the volume up slightly. 

Charlotte shook her head as Arthur helped her down and took her through to the x-ray machine. There were a lot of medical staff in today as it was match day, the x-ray didn’t take long, and the pair returned. Sidney was laying on the massage bed, eyes closed, singing, badly to the music on his phone. Charlotte and Arthur laughed, disturbing Sidney and causing him to get up. 

Arthur gave Charlotte some advice and told her, he would come to Sanditon Tuesday to see her.  
“You don’t need to do that” Charlotte said,  
“I want to” Arthur said.  
“Then I will cook for you”  
“Deal” he said “Now have a seat while I speak to my brother”  
“Stop telling him to kiss me” Charlotte said laughing, Arthur laughed   
“I would never suggest such a thing, did you like your flowers?”  
“I did, thank you, I cannot believe you bought me beautiful flowers before even meeting me” she said with a wink.  
“You told her I bought them?” Arthur said to Sidney  
“Obviously, she is not stupid enough to think I had done is on my own!” Sidney said  
“Fair point” Arthur agreed, moving to his brother 

“Keep an eye on her, I don’t want her making things worse” Arthur said, “She’s independent and as stubborn as you, here’s a copy of the instructions I have given her” he stopped mid-sentence and smiled a true wide smile at his brother. Sidney shared his smile and felt his heart melt a little.  
“Oh, my word Sidney” Arthur whispered, “You were not kidding, voice of an angel, she is enough to turn me straight!”  
Sidney laughed, “We’re just friends, if you turn straight, you are welcome to ask her on a date”  
“If you let this one go, I will do physio exercises on you that will cause excruciating pain, until you plead with me to stop”  
“I don’t know what you mean” Sidney said, and Arthur could see from his expression that his brother was totally unaware that he was in love with Charlotte already.  
“I mean, you need a true friend, don’t screw her over” he said, not wanting to scare his brother into any mistakes.

“Right then Charlotte, let’s go, our pasta should be ready by the time we get to mine” Sidney said putting a hand out to help Charlotte stand, she stood without his help and walked to Arthur and hugged him.  
“Thank you” she whispered.  
“You’re welcome” he whispered back  
“I’ll bring you pasta when we come back” Sidney said to Arthur and they went to the door to leave, Sidney holding the door for her again and making Arthur smile. 

Sidney’s house was huge, her whole flat would fit in just his open plan kitchen/dining/lounge. Maria, the housekeeper greeted them both warmly and the smell of her pasta filled the room, making Charlotte feel very hungry.   
“Can you make up a box for Arthur please?” Sidney asked as she placed the two bowls on the dining table for Charlotte and Sidney  
“Of course,” Maria said, “He mentioned it last night when he rang, I have also made up the spare room for miss Heywood in case you decide to stay here”   
“Please, call me Charlotte” Charlotte said  
“Yes, Miss Heywood, Charlotte” Maria said, disappearing into another room of the house.

After hey had eaten, Sidney gave Charlotte a tour of the house, then they picked up Arthur’s meal, said goodbye to Maria, who would be leaving shortly, and headed back to the stadium. This time when Sidney parked up, Charlotte felt less nervous. 

They walked down to see Arthur first, he was busy, so they just left the box on his desk, then Sidney insisted they go to the changing rooms to see the boys before the match. Sidney opened the door and held it for Charlotte.

Charlotte was not in the slightest bit phased by the men all standing round in their pants talking and laughing. One or two of them quickly put their shorts on, Babington walked straight over and hugged them both.  
“It’s an honour to have such a superstar in our midst” he said. Sidney bowed.  
“Not you, you prick, Charlotte, England’s top scorer last season” he said “Sorry to hear about the accident” he said quieter  
“Thank you,” she said  
“This is my best friend, excuse the way he abuses me, it’s all out of love” Sidney said to Charlotte.  
“Like f*ck it is, I hate the arrogant bastard, but his brother is the physio, and I don’t want to be tortured, plus have you tasted Maria’s pasta, it is to die for”  
“We’ve just had some for lunch” Charlotte said, with a smile.

“So, what are you doing here?” Crowe asked.  
“Came to wish you luck, you’ll need it without your star player” Sidney said  
“Give some of us a chance to touch the ball!” Crowe said  
“I did mention to him that I didn’t see him as a team player” Charlotte said.  
“Are you two?” Crowe started  
“No, he’s just the annoying big head who’s been asked to help with a football tournament I am organising”  
“Then, are you free Wednesday? I have the night off?”  
“Sorry, no, it’s women’s beach volley ball Wednesday” Charlotte said.  
“Where? What time? I will be there” Crowe said, and a couple of the other players came over at the announcement of women’s volley ball.

“You are not coming to Sanditon for that!” Sidney said firmly.  
“Oh yes, hour and a half each way on our tome off, dinner with Charlotte, or any of the team really, I will be there” Crowe said, “There’s room in the car if anyone else wants to join me” he shouted and the “Yes” chimes came in. Charlotte laughed.   
“You’re a bad influence on them” Sidney said to Charlotte, smiling, Charlotte returned his smile, and it did not go unnoticed among some of his team mates, the chemistry between them. 

At that moment Harry walked in,   
“Parker you’re not supposed to be in here”  
“Introducing my friend here” Sidney said, as Charlotte turned around.  
“Charlotte!” Harry exclaimed with a smile stepping to hug her.  
“Harry, how are you?” she greeted him in return.  
“Good, how’s the shoulder?”   
“Not great, just been to see Arthur”  
“He is the best, you are welcome here at any time to see him” Harry said, then added “Get your phone out”  
Charlotte obliged and Harry opened her notes and added a new note to the app.  
“That’s the code for the players entrance, you come anytime, train with us if you feel up to it too”  
“Thanks Harry, I appreciate that, what’s the plan for today? The usual?”  
“Had to make an adjustment without Parker, gone for the 4,4,2 today, need to keep them out of our end as much as possible.”  
“Yes, that’s a good idea” Charlotte said as her and Harry walked to the board on the wall.

Charlotte drew out a formation on the board while talking to Harry and Harry countered with a small change, Charlotte studied it for a moment and agreed, Sidney watched in amazement at the pair, while some of the other team also watched on. 

“We’ll get out of your hair” Charlotte said after ten minutes, “see you later” she kissed him affectionately on the cheek and walked back to Sidney.  
“Come on Parker, move your arse” she said.  
“Don’t take any shit off him Heywood” Babington said, before feeling a clip across the head from Harry.   
“Where’s your f*cking manners Babington, don’t swear in front of a lady” Harry said. Charlotte laughed and Sidney held the door for Charlotte, and they left. 

“Have you seen the chemistry between those pair?” Babington said when the door closed and they talked about the couple for a few minutes until Harry took charge, telling them off for not getting dressed in front of her and talking them through her idea for paly. 

Charlotte and Sidney walked up to the box, the stadium was starting to get full, and the atmosphere made Charlotte smile, she had missed this more than she realised.

“How do you know Harry?” Sidney asked curiously  
“Probation, he did some work with teenage offenders, in fact if it wasn’t for Harry, I never would have played professional football, he’s like that dad I never had”  
“Did he suggest I come to Sanditon and work with you?”  
“Wouldn’t put it past him, he’s been asking me to come and be assistant coach for the last three months, apparently your current one is useless. He pays for James, says he’s the best in the area, but he’s no Arthur”  
“I can’t believe the old man used me to get you to coach us, then Tom used me for Sanditon, why am I so blind?”  
“The best thing about being blind is having your sight restored, makes you see the world in a different way, makes you appreciate what you want in your life” Charlotte said, Sidney opened the door to the box, they were the only ones there for the moment.   
“It’s not all bad, coming to Sanditon, you have been good for me” Sidney said, looking at Charlotte. They both paused for a moment, something was passing between them and neither of them knew what to do with it. Sidney leaned forward to kiss Charlotte, but she topped him.  
“Don’t” she said, “I need to be sure you aren’t going to screw me over for one of your supermodels if I let my guard down and let you in. If you really mean it, kiss me when it’s right for both of us, not on your territory or mine, where either of us are vulnerable” 

“I can wait” Sidney said, and they took their seats for the match to begin.


	18. Eighteen

Sidney was very animated watching his team play, standing and shouting at the players and the referee, Charlotte felt the emotions watching them play too, but was a little more controlled. When Babington scored, Sidney did a lap of the room in celebration, Charlotte did a less elaborate cheer, then laughed at how invested Sidney was in his team. Charlotte thought she would like to see him actually play, she thought they might be quite a dynamic team. She hadn’t really watched any football since her accident as she found it quite upsetting, but she was glad to be here today. 

When the whistle blew for full time and Sidney’s team had won, he turned and picked Charlotte up to spin her around in delight. He stopped face to face with her, arms tight around her and as he gently stood her back on the floor, she kissed him, or he kissed her, neither was quite sure, it just happened. 

“I hope I didn’t hurt your shoulder swinging you around” Sidney said, stepping back from her.   
“I didn’t notice” she said, “I mean it hurts constantly, but it doesn’t feel any worse”   
“Did you bring the painkillers?” he asked, “I can get some from Arthur,” he fussed, hands in his pickets, feeling awkward. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to bring them” he looked at the floor, not sure what to do with himself. Charlotte opened her bag and took some out, swallowing them down with the last of the bottle of water she had in front of her.

“Harry will be pleased with that win. Are you planning on going down to see the boys?”  
“No, we’ll all meet in the players’ lounge, come on, let’s head there now”  
“Yes sure” Charlotte said smiling. Neither mentioned the kiss and neither behaved as if anything had changed between them. 

Sidney’s phone rang, it was Diana.  
“I’ve got to take this” he said, walking out of the room, Charlotte nodded. The music was playing in the lounge so it would be hard to hear and there were people milling around, Charlotte went to stand over by the big window, that overlooked the pitch, she was watching the fans filing out.

“Diana, how’s things?” Sidney said.  
“You brought her to the match?” Diana said angrily.  
“If you mean Charlotte then yes”  
“What is going on with you both?”  
“Nothing, we’re friends”  
“That’s not the rumours I am hearing!”  
“Well, you are hearing wrong, she is good for me though, she’s teaching me to be a better person, I like spending time with her”  
“Well, you had better stop! Right now!” Diana demanded.  
“What it the problem?” Sidney asked, finding himself becoming frustrated now.

“You were sent to Sanditon to do some work with the kids, to check out Charlotte’s skills, not for anything else. Harry wants her as assistant coach and that was supposed to be the plan for her after she recovers, now she’s pissing about with you and hurting herself and joining you to watch the match, being seen with you on a personal level”  
“Where are you going with this Diana?”  
“You have to choose the girl or your career. If Charlotte takes the assistant post, she cannot be in a relationship with you, it is not the way it works, and I am not prepared to let Harry down for you to have a quick leg over. Focus on the team, or I will request a transfer and I will work my hardest to have you sent abroad, far away from her. Your career depends on it. Drop the girl, focus on the game. Do I make myself clear?!”  
“Crystal” Sidney said, cutting the call and knocking his phone to silent. 

Sidney stood for a moment before heading back in to see her.  
“This is so f*cked up” he said to himself.

“Talking to yourself is a sure sign of madness,” Crowe said as he approached him.  
“Life is so shit isn’t it?” Sidney said.   
“Jealous you weren’t on the pitch, Sidney?” he teased,   
“Yeah, something like that” Sidney said, walking through the door with his friend. “Go see if Charlotte is ok, I’ll get the drinks in. Usual?” Sidney said  
“Yeah, cheers mate”

“Hey Charlotte, how did you enjoy the game?” Crowe asked walking up to stand next to her.  
“It was good, you played well, fast on your feet, a good asset as a lefty”  
“So, you were watching me then” he said with a wink. Charlotte laughed.  
“You forget I was a pro”  
“Yeah, I saw you play once or twice, Babbers has a thing for Esther, dragged me along with him to watch her, you have one hell of a long shot”  
“When Harry found me, I was in a bad place, but he encouraged me to join his little team, I was the only girl on the team, had to be vicious, but the lads were respectful when I played, that’s why the changing room didn’t bother me, he nurtured me, said I was a natural”  
“He’s a top bloke, I hear he wants you on the coaching team”  
“He’s asked a couple of times, but I am not fit enough yet”  
“Well, if it’s any consolation, I won’t promise not to rip you every time I see you, it’s the way it is, but I will also respect you as a coach”  
“I wouldn’t expect anything less, men’s football can be a shock to a lot of people, but it’s like water off a ducks back to me. Your boy over there” Charlotte said pointing toward Sidney, “got as good as he gave, I can tell you”  
Crowe laughed, “I can imagine it now”

Sidney returned with the drinks, followed by Babington and someone who introduced himself as ‘legs’, he was about six foot five, so Charlotte assumed that was where the name came from, some of the others came and joined them as they arrived too. Charlotte matched them in their banter, it reminded her of her younger days playing, except without the curfew and probation officer.

Harry arrived and called Charlotte over, she excused herself and headed over to sit with him in the corner of the room.   
“Your play worked well” Harry said,   
“Yes, I noticed. Your number ten, have you tried him out on the wing?” she asked.  
“No, you think he can do it?”  
“Yes, I was watching his feet, he’s got a strong long shot, he could do a bit of damage out there because he’ll have a bit of space, try him”  
“I will, if you reconsider joining my coaching team”  
“Look, it’s the end of the season, you have one match left, give me some time to recover, ask me again in a month, I promise to think serious about it now I’ve seen the team play”  
“Charlotte, I promise I won’t let them give you a hard time, I mean, you seem to have tamed Parker a little in a week, the others will be child’s play”  
“I can’t take all the credit for that; Arthur has given him a few reprimands too”  
“Yeah, you’d never know they were brothers, like chalk and cheese” Harry said, laughing.

They sat back for a while and watched the men interact with each other, Sidney kept looking over to check on Charlotte, which she liked.

“Is Parker going to be a problem?” Harry asked.  
“In what way?”  
“I see the way he looks at you today, he cares about you, I can’t have you both here if you get in a relationship, but if I had to choose, I would put him on the transfer list before letting you go, I want you to know that. He’ll do well wherever he goes, so would you, but you could help move this team from middle of the table to top ten and this is likely my last team before retirement”  
“Shut up Harry, you’re nowhere near old enough to retire!”   
“My darling girl, you have always been the flatterer. You know I think of you like a daughter, don’t you?”  
“Ah Harry, you’re going soft, but you were like that dad I needed at that time”  
“Does he know about your criminal past?”  
“No, please don’t tell him, it’s my story to tell, when the time is right”  
“I agree”  
“Did you hear I had a visit from the police yesterday?”  
“I did, I want Edward to come back, but he’s taken it really to heart, he feels really guilty for what happened to you”  
“It’s not his fault”  
“He’s a sensitive soul, a cheating, lazy, entitled little shit most of the time, but sensitive none the less”

Sidney came over and joined them at the table.  
“Boss” he said, greeting him as he sat  
“Sidney, are you coming back after the summer break?”  
“I don’t know boss; I might put myself on the transfer list”  
“Really?” Charlotte said  
“Well, I don’t have the best reputation, do I? Maybe I need a fresh start, new club and all that” Sidney said.   
“Give us a minute, Charlotte” Harry said, Charlotte got up, leaned over and kissed Harry on the cheek. He smiled at her affectionately and she headed back over to the other men from the team.

“It’s because of Charlotte isn’t it?”  
“What do you mean?”  
“Did Diana ask you to choose between the team and her?”  
“I don’t have a great reputation, maybe it’s time for me to move on”  
“Think about it, come in and have a chat with me next weekend, don’t say anything to anyone just yet”  
“There’s no good outcome to this is there?” Sidney said, confused. “I don’t know what to do, I feel like I need to be with Charlotte, to look out for her and I feel like a better person with her. Then I don’t want her to miss out on the job with you, but I can’t have pretended I don’t care if I was here too”   
“Spend the week with her, see how things go, but remember this, I think of Charlotte like a daughter, it is not just her that will feel awkward, but if you hurt her, you will have to face me also”  
“But you are fair and level headed”  
“I am in football terms, but I won’t like you and our chats will stop, I won’t be able to support you in the same way”   
“I hear you, I’ll speak with you next week” Sidney said, standing and going back over to join Charlotte.

“Ready to go?” Sidney whispered to Charlotte.  
“Yes” she whispered back.  
They said their goodbyes, Charlotte had many hugs and offers for dates, then they found their way back to the car. 

“Good day?” Sidney asked  
“Overall, yes, it was great to see Harry and Arthur is so lovely”  
“And of course, the best team won”  
“Well, that too. Did you have a good day?”  
“It was good to watch the boys play, it was nice to see you enjoy yourself, how is the pain?”  
“Bearing up, thanks, I will be getting a telling off from Arthur if I don’t ice it soon and I have my exercises to start tomorrow”  
“Want to go back to Sanditon or stay here tonight?”  
“Whatever is easier for you, I’m tired, so will probably sleep all the way if we go back to Sanditon tonight”  
“Let’s stay here then” Sidney said as he pulled out of the car park. 

When they arrived back, Sidney took Charlotte’s bag from the car and put it up in the guest room, then he found his ice packs for her to do her shoulder.  
“I am starving” he said, looking in the cupboards and fridge. “What do you fancy?”  
“I’m easy” Charlotte said “Whatever you have, we can make something out of it”  
“I don’t know where to start” Sidney said coming back to the sofa and sitting down in defeat.  
“What’s up, you have been off since Diana called, are you being charged over the club?”  
“No, well, not that I have heard yet, it is nothing for you to worry about”  
“If you want to talk about it, I’ll listen”  
“Thanks”

“Right then,” Charlotte said, getting up from the sofa, holding the ice pack on her shoulder as she walked to the kitchen. Sidney felt his phone vibrate, so he took it out to check it. He had ignored it all since Diana had rung and he noticed she had sent him a couple of messages, warning him not to bring Charlotte back to his house and not to get involved. He sighed, threw his phone down and followed her to the kitchen. 

Charlotte was stood in the kitchen chopping peppers, she had put some water on to boil also.  
“What are you making and what can I do to help?” Sidney asked.  
“Boiling the water to make rice, chopping some peppers and tomatoes to add. Maria, I am assuming has left some chicken breasts ready cooked for you in the fridge. Meal complete”  
“That sounds good, shall I help?”  
“I have it under control, you find plates and cutlery, pour the drinks, sort the table”   
“Your wish is my command” he said, trying to act normally so that she wouldn’t question him, but then so much had happened the last week, he didn’t even know what normal was anymore. 

The meal was delicious, and Sidney told Charlotte to leave the dirty dishes and sit down, he attempted to load the dishwasher, but knew that Maria would tidy it up tomorrow if he was wrong. Just when Charlotte was sat relaxing, thinking how she had enjoyed today, Georgiana text her.   
“Please speak to me Charlie, I heard you have been spotted in London, Otis is innocent, and we will prove it, please know that love you my best friend”

Charlotte turned her phone screen down and placed it on the coffee table in the middle of the room.   
“What’s up?” Sidney asked, flopping onto the sofa next to her.  
“Three guesses?”  
“Crowe asking you for a date. Arthur checking on your ice regime. Georgiana begging you to forgive her and Otis”   
“Arthur would not be a burden, I could be tempted to a date with Crowe, it’s been a long time since anyone asked, but sadly it is George” she sighed, her mood depleted again. 

Sidney flicked the television on, they had never sat and watched the television before, they usually listened to music or just talked or argued, this was nice and relaxing and no pressure. After today and the decisions they both had to make, this would save them talking to each other. Charlotte took her shoes off to get comfortable, while Sidney flicked through the channels.   
“What do you fancy?” he asked,   
“Something I don’t have to think, something funny or action or something”  
“You want a classic then” Sidney said, “I have just the thing” he pressed some buttons and up popped The Italian Job. Charlotte smiled.  
“A true classic”

“If I asked, would you go on a date with me instead of Crowe?” Sidney asked  
“You don’t do dates, you told me so” she replied. Sidney didn’t respond to that, he needed to know if she was going to take the job with Harry before he committed to anything, though to be fair, he decided that after holding her in bed last night and the spontaneous kiss this afternoon, he felt pretty committed to her now and he was prepared to go to another football team for her to have her dream, if working with Harry was her dream.

Sidney saw Charlotte yawn.  
“Do you want to go to bed? I can show you your room”  
“Not just yet, do you mind if I stay here a little longer, it is nice to have company” she said, then as an afterthought she added “Unless you want to be on your own, then just send me off”  
“No, it’s nice to have company, I have spent too many nights here alone or drunk with the boys after a match, this is nice, I just thought you were tired, seeing you yawn”  
“I am, but not quite ready for bed, half hour more, I have lived alone since before I turned sixteen, I am enjoying the company”

“How did you end up living alone at such a young age?”  
“You have surely had enough of my tears and sadness for one weekend, and believe me, that is a story that still holds tears”  
“Well, I would still like to hear it someday, I assume that was when you met Harry”  
“It was, are you sure you want another sad tale tonight?”  
“I want to get to know you more, happy or sad”

“So, my parents separated when I was twelve, Ali was ten, my father had had an affair, had a child with her, the one I don’t see Katie, mum lost it, stayed in bed for weeks, left us to it. I started shop lifting food for us to eat, taught myself to cook and clean, that was the start of my criminal history” she said  
“But even though what you did was wrong, it was done for the right reasons” Sidney said  
“That’s why I have never done more than an overnight stay, I stole a car once, my mother was with the alcoholic, James father, he used to hit me around, I wasn’t his, so no need to be nice to me, I was fourteen by then, I just needed to get away from him, dad wouldn’t have me there, barely saw him after he left, though the twin’s mother is lovely, we get on better now.”  
“How did you know how to drive at fourteen”  
“I didn’t I crashed, my first overnight in jail, mum came to get me in the morning, said if I couldn’t behave then I could go, she said she don’t make her choose between him and me because she wouldn’t lose another husband, not that they were married”  
“That is disgusting, she chose him over you, no wonder you wanted to get away.”  
“He got really drunk one night, threw me across the room, thought I had broken my arm, she told me to go to bed and not make a scene, but it hurt so badly”. This was where the tears started as she recalled the events of that night. She took a few deep breaths before continuing “I waited until they all went to bed and crept out with my bag packed as much as I could take, and I haven’t been back.” 

Sidney pulled her close, he could not imagine what life had been like for her,   
“Harry?”  
“That was after the stolen car, the probation officer said I needed to find something to occupy my time, teach me some manners and discipline. Harry was running a football team for them so I told them I would join, they laughed at me, being the only girl, but I went anyway, seems Harry thought I had some sort of talent for it and encouraged me to continue. When I ran away, he made sure I went to a foster family, but they didn’t agree with me playing football, I lasted six months, then Harry got me a flat and agreed with children’s services to be my guardian if I got into trouble. I finished school and went to the academy, haven’t been in trouble since. Then I let him down by getting this injury and ruining the career he had fought for me. I owe him to go and coach with him, but I don’t know if I want to go back to it” 

Sidney did not know what to say to her, so he just held her and let her cry.  
“I suppose you think badly of me now” she said  
“I don't think badly of you at all”  
“Just don’t feel pity for me, I couldn’t bear that”  
“Admiration, that is all” Sidney said.  
Charlotte leaned into the warmth of his embrace, now she felt totally exhausted more than tired and fell asleep on him once again. Sidney left her there for a while his mind played with all the information he had received today. He knew now, more than ever, the importance of being true to her, she could not be let down by someone again, he thought. He woke her gently, then carried her up to bed, it broke him to leave her on her own, but he was adamant he would prove to her, that he was a gentleman and that if she agreed to go on a date with him when he asked her properly, that he was genuine in his actions and not the foolish man he portrayed to the world until he met her.


	19. Nineteen

Charlotte woke up in the most comfortable bed she could ever remember sleeping in, it took a moment to remember where she was, she got out of bed and quietly walked to the kitchen, unsure if Sidney would still be asleep. Maria was in the kitchen and offered to make her breakfast, she knew that Sidney had stayed and that he was not very good at his own breakfast. Charlotte laughed and sat at the breakfast bar, Maria brought her some juice and they chatted easily. Charlotte told Maria about Sidney making a potato and tuna salad and thinking he had just won MasterChef. Maria said she could believe it and asked if he had cooked last night. Charlotte confessed to the cooking, but that Sidney had taken on the duty of dishes, Maria opened the dishwasher to show Charlotte how his attempt had gone, and they laughed at that too.

“I have shown him many times Charlotte, how to load the dishwasher, but it is like I am speaking to him in Italian” Maria said,  
“I can believe that it is as if he believes that he does not really need to listen to anything he is told, for if he forgets, it is a reason for others to take care of him”  
“I think he misses his mother, she was very attentive to all of the children, maybe a little too attentive”  
“That is not all bad, my mother barely knows what I look like, she had me out of the house before I was fifteen. I had to learn to get by”  
“Well, you have evidently taught yourself well, do you need an ice pack for your shoulder, Arthur told me that you have an injury that he was attending to”  
“Thank you, Maria, that is very kind of you” 

Charlotte was just tucking into her breakfast of eggs and toast, when Sidney appeared in the kitchen.  
“Morning ladies” he said, wearing just a pair of shorts.  
“Sidney, you should put clothes on when you have guests!” Maria said, Charlotte turned to see exactly what Maria meant by that and felt her stomach do a flip at just how lovely his body was. She blushed and turned back to her breakfast.  
“It is fine, Charlotte won’t mind, she was in the changing room with the lads yesterday, didn’t bat an eyelid, she is more one of the lads than a lady” 

Charlotte raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing and Maria hit him with the tea towel she had in her hand.   
“If you are going to be rude to your guest then I am not cooking breakfast for you” she said, handing him a glass of juice,  
“You don’t mean that Maria” Sidney said, jokingly, until maria returned with a bowl of cornflakes for him. 

Charlotte almost spat her food out as she laughed, Sidney picked up a solitary cornflake on his spoon and stared at it.  
“Why does she get eggs and I get baby food?” He asked like a sulking child  
“Naughty boys don’t get treats” Maria said,   
“That’s not strictly true” Sidney said.   
“I do not want any talk of those girls who leave too much makeup over your bed sheets. They are not nice girls like Charlotte here, she has standards like I do” Maria said. Charlotte gave up eating until they had finished their conversation, she was desperate to laugh, but did not want to get herself into trouble.

“Girls with too much makeup?” Charlotte asked inquisitively. “Maria, you have to tell me more about this”  
“One girl left her underwear behind, so small, I thought it was a head band when I saw it. Can you believe that?”  
“I cannot” Charlotte said, “I bet she had a cold behind walking home”  
“Her dress barely covered her as she got into a taxi, Sidney could not even remember her name, it was disgraceful”  
“Oh my, but I see why he thinks you get treats for being naughty. Shall I tell you what he did to me?”  
“Oh, Charlotte if I hear he has been awful to you, I shall feed him bread and water for a week” Maria said. 

“Firstly, he told me I knew nothing about football because I am a girl” Charlotte said, Maria gasped.  
“That is not true, my niece, she adores you playing, we saw you on the television, winning penalty you scored, spectacular and no pulling your shirt over your head like an animal”  
“Thank you, Maria, when he discovered my true identity, Diana told him he should get me flowers to apologise”  
“Rightly so”  
“He bought me a cactus!”  
“A cactus!” she exclaimed “Sidney Parker, I am so disappointed in you right now” she said turning away and walking to the fridge.

“But it was in a flower pot, it is a flower!” Sidney protested. Maria returned with a small plastic box.  
“Here Charlotte, my famous cheesecake, all for you, do not leave it here, Sidney does not deserve any for this” she smiled at Charlotte. Sidney leaned over to try and take the box from her.   
“But that is my favourite Maria”  
“Then you have to be nice to this young lady, I am shocked by you” she said as she walked away, then came back over to them and with a solemn expression said “I lie, I am not shocked, Sidney, you must listen when I tell you about finding your heart. You cannot keep it locked away and hurting innocent people, Charlotte is not Eliza, neither is she one of your cheap bunny girls”  
“It is playboy bunnies” Sidney interrupted.  
“She is a nice girl, treat her with respect or I shall quit my job” she said then walked away and up the stairs.

“I like her” Charlotte said, finishing her breakfast.  
“I did once” Sidney said, “Please can I share the cheesecake?”   
“If you get us both home safely, then I shall cut you a small slice” Charlotte said, “Now I need to go and shower” and she jumped down from the stool and headed toward the stairs leaving Sidney staring at his bowl of cereal, feeling like a naughty child. 

“I don’t wear makeup Maria, so the sheets will just need a freshen up” he heard Charlotte say as her voice disappeared at the top of the stairs. 

The journey home was uneventful and as they had made it in one piece, as promised. Charlotte had considered asking him about the Eliza that Maria had mentioned, but she figured it would be better to come from him, when he was ready, it had obviously affected him , Charlotte cut a small slice of cheesecake and handed it to Sidney.   
“This is the nicest thing you will ever taste” he said taking the slice she had given him in a piece of kitchen roll paper.  
“I look forward to the whole rest of it with my cup of tea, while watching the sunset on my balcony this evening.” Charlotte said, “but first, after a long drive home, I am off for a walk to get some fresh air”

Sidney watched as Charlotte put the cheesecake in the fridge then walked to her front door to leave, realising, he followed and left her to go to his own flat hearing her shut her door.   
“Do you want company?” he asked as he reached his door.  
“I am pretty sure you have had enough of me this weekend” Charlotte said, and she continued to walk.

“I thought I would have too, but strangely, I feel like I haven’t had enough” Sidney said as he opened the door to his flat and put his stuff in. He stood for a moment with his slice of cheesecake, debating which he wanted more, his cheesecake or to follow Charlotte. It was a tough choice. He searched the drawer for a plastic fork, but was unable to find one, frustrated he picked up a normal fork and an extra sheet of kitchen roll. “I shall catch her up, then walk and eat, best of both worlds he said to himself as he headed out of the door.

Sidney couldn’t see her but assumed she would go to the clifftops. By the time he reached the top, she was already sat on her rock, she looked so beautiful, her hair was flying in the soft breeze as she had been unable to tie it up properly with her shoulder. This was the first time he had noticed how long her hair was. She was not like the other ladies he knew, she wasn’t all about hair and makeup and looking good, she was rough and ready, trainers, shorts, t-shirt, sporty, one of the lads, like he had said to maria.   
“I like your hair blowing in the wind” he said as she approached.   
“You brought your cheesecake?”  
“I couldn’t decide which I liked best, you or the cake, so I am literally, having my cake and eating it”

Charlotte laughed.   
“Here, take the rock then” she said standing.  
“No, I will be ok on the floor”  
“I insist, if you are eating, you get the rock, I shall sit on the floor” she said, lowering herself to the grass.   
Sidney sat on the rock and despite only having a small slice, he found himself offering her the first fork full. Charlotte looked at him suspiciously.   
“Fine, I shall eat the first bite, prove I haven’t poisoned it” he said, taking a bite and filling his fork again for her.   
“I wasn’t thinking that” she said, “I was wondering why you were offering to share when you have such a tiny piece”

Sidney shrugged his shoulders and Charlotte took the next bite that he offered.   
“Oh my, this is the best thing I have ever tasted” she said.  
“I know” Sidney agreed,   
“Ok, I suppose I will share another slice with you, but don’t tell Maria”  
“My lips are sealed.” He said and they sat in silence as Sidney finished eating. 

“Arthur is coming to see you tomorrow about lunch time, then we have training in the evening, right?”  
“Yes, I shall ask Joe’s dad if he can help out again, he was a good help when I had my surgery”  
“Or I can help?” Sidney suggested  
“No need, with Arthur here too, you will probably want to have some family time. I know Tom would want that”  
“He would, but I made a commitment, it is high time I started sticking to things”

They walked back down together.  
“Charlotte, what would you say if I put myself on the transfer list?”  
“I don’t think you can, to be honest, I am sure the club has to sign it off and the agent deals with it all”  
“I know, but if I force Harry and my agent into letting me go on”  
“I thought you were happy in the team?” Charlotte asked, turning to face him.  
“I am, but I wonder if I might not be better off somewhere else”  
“Is this because Harry asked me to take a job at the club?”  
“It might be”  
“Look Sidney, I know we didn’t exactly get off on the right foot, but we are past that, now aren’t we?”  
“Oh yes”  
“See, friends at last, so don’t go worrying about that, don’t get me wrong, you be a prick and I will give you a hard time, but no worse than any of the others”  
“Friends” Sidney said, feeling deflated, and they continued walking. 

Sidney felt even more confused now as they walked back to their flats, he thought there was something between them, but now he wasn’t so sure, was it just a moment of excitement that had caused the kiss, but she actually regretted it, or maybe he was such an awful kisser that she had thrown it from her mind, he was not ready for that thought. Maybe they should sit down together and have an actual conversation about it, he thought, but not today.

When they got back to the flat, Charlotte said that she had work to do and left him at her door. Sidney stood looking at her door for a minute then headed home himself. 

Charlotte sat at her table with the laptop in front of her, she needed some time away from him. She wanted to consider Harry’s offer of assistant coach, now that she had been up and seen the team play, but she wasn’t sure if she could work with Sidney, she thought there might have been something between them, but then, he hadn’t said anything about their kiss and now he was saying about going on the transfer list because he didn’t want to be at the club if she was there, she would turn it down, she knew first-hand what it was like to lose your team and your dreams, she loved this job in Sanditon, she would not let Sidney leave just to avoid her, she would just see him for work and that would be it. She had decided. 

Charlotte opened her emails to send Harry a message, she knew she should ring him, but he would just try and talk her into the job, and she didn’t want that to happen. To her surprise, there was an email from Harry in her inbox, it was an invite to the end of season dinner, black tie event, a week from Saturday, she was welcome to stay with Harry and his wife or they would book her a hotel room, let him know asap about the hotel. 

Charlotte smiled, she had nothing to wear to a formal dinner and with her shoulder, she couldn’t drive to the larger town, she would normally ask Georgiana, she owned her own fashion house after all, but she was still angry with her for the whole situation, and she did not want her to know that she would be back in London that weekend. Life was such a mess, she thought to herself and got up to put her music on, the answer to everything, then she headed to the kitchen for cheesecake, she cut it in half and then took a smaller slice from her half, the other half, she put on a plate and took it round to Sidney’s flat, she knocked his door, left the plate on the step and walked away. 

Sidney heard a knock on the door, he opened it, but no one was there, he looked down and saw the cheesecake on the plate on the floor, he smiled, happy for the cheesecake and hopeful that they were still on good terms. He took the plate and a clean fork and went to sit on the decking outside, Charlotte had put her music on, and her door was open halfway, that meant very soon, he would hear the beautiful sound of her voice. He smiled at that thought, this is what life should be like. 

Charlotte composed an email to Harry, 

Hey Harry,   
I would love to attend the dinner, I just need to find a dress, I would love to see Jean, but I insist on staying at a hotel, so how about I come to your house to get ready, Jean can help with my hair with the bad shoulder, I know she loves to fuss, then we can all go together. Two women on your arm will make you the talk of the evening!!  
As for the job, I can’t take it, I am really sorry, Sidney mentioned today he was thinking of leaving the team, I can’t let him do that just because he hates me so much that he doesn’t want to be there if I am, we’ve compromised to try and be friends, but I know how hard it was for me to leave, I can’t do that to him, he could be your star player, though Babington is top class too. Please don’t try to change my mind. 

Love always, 

The trouble maker xxx

‘Message sent’ 

Harry read the email from his favourite trouble maker, Charlotte, he called Arthur to come and see him.   
“What do you make of this email?” he asked  
“Oooo Charlotte is coming to the dinner, I am so pleased” he said, then continued reading, “Oh, what has happened there? I thought they had something going on, just a feeling, nothing confirmed but have you seen the way he watches her?”  
“I have, but I know she is not so worldly when it comes to love, she has been rejected by her parent’s and hasn’t let anyone love her since, she knows I think of her like a daughter, but she puts me in my place if I try to love her like one”  
“Want me to see what is going on when I go there tomorrow?”  
“Yes, please, and to be honest, if they can sort this out between them, I want to have them both at the club, I warned Sidney off, but only because I know he is capable of hurting Charlotte and I don’t want to be in a position to choose, if they genuinely do want to be together, and believe me, I saw a difference in Sidney after just a week, I will have them both here”  
“I got it. She is good for him, and he could be good for her with some guidance” Arthur said. 

Sidney and Charlotte did not see each other the rest of the night and they both went to bed thinking that they had misread the situation between them, Tom had invited his brothers to dinner, and informed Charlotte that Sidney would not be at training as she had suspected, Sidney had gone behind his back to Mary and told her that he had to do the training and would be half an hour later than he had been requested. She had replied that she was pleased he was stepping up to his responsibility and not to worry, they would wait for him. 

Arthur arrived as arranged, he went to Sidney’s first to discover that Charlotte was not yet back from wherever she had gone, Sidney did not want to ask, they went for a walk down to the beach and Sidney was surprised to see Charlotte doing yoga on the beach with a few other people in what looked like a class. Arthur headed over to see what was going on, Charlotte stopped what she was doing and greeted him warmly.   
“I won’t be long, Arthur, I just needed a little exercise, I promise I am being careful”  
“Not to worry, we will wait for you, finish your class” 

After the class, Charlotte introduced Jack, multi-talented personal trainer and class instructor, was her description to them. Arthur suggested that Sidney work with him while he was here in Sanditon to keep up his fitness for next season, wherever he decided he would play. 

Sidney thought this was a good idea and the two of them headed off to discuss it, while Charlotte and Arthur headed back to the flat.  
“How’s the shoulder?” he asked.  
“I promise I was being careful with the yoga”  
“I believe you; you seem a sensible girl”  
“Oh, Arthur, if only you knew how hard it has been since the accident, I hate feeling so helpless, I don’t ever want to feel I have to rely on people again, so I would never do anything stupid to do more damage”  
“It is ok to have people help you sometimes Charlotte”  
“But it is usually better not to though, it means you are tied to them and they expect something in return, even if it is not convenient”  
“Not everyone is like that, how about just letting one brick out of that big wall around you, let someone peek in, give people a chance to show you they have some good”  
“Arthur, I trust you will not let me down, so long as I work hard toward getting better too” she said as they walked back.

“I also have some of Maria’s cheesecake!” Charlotte added as they reached the door.  
“Why didn’t you say so, I would have raced you back” Sidney said laughing.

Arthur checked Charlotte over, he was pleased, she was listening to his instructions and it seemed that this little fall had not done any significant damage.   
“Shall I meet with this James, give him my recommendations and make sure he looks after you?”  
“You don’t need to do that; I can update him if you like”   
“How about you ring him now, and I will speak to him then?”  
“You won’t give up, will you?”  
“No” Arthur said, so Charlotte gave in, clicked James number and handed the phone over. 

Arthur ate a slice of cheesecake with Charlotte sat out on the decking, waiting for Sidney to return.  
“How is my boy behaving?”  
“He’s ok, has he said anything to you about leaving the team?”  
“He hasn’t, but Harry said he had broached the subject with him”  
“I think it is because Harry offered me a position and Sidney couldn’t bear to work with me”  
“Sidney likes you”  
“Yes, we have passed that totally unbearable phase and we could even be friends”  
“Have you talked to him about it?”  
“No, I don’t want him to feel awkward about it”

At that moment, there was a knock at the door of Charlotte’s flat,   
“That will be my brother” he said, getting up to go and answer it, Charlotte followed him.  
“I heard you had been held hostage” Sidney said with a smile to his brother  
“Nah, she had some of Maria’s cheesecake so I was a willing hostage”  
“I know where your loyalties lie”  
“Oh, yes, if Maria were ten years younger, I would marry her for her cooking”

Arthur turned and hugged Charlotte goodbye  
“Enjoy your dinner with Tom tonight, I shall see you soon” she said to Arthur, “You too, Sidney, I will see you tomorrow if you’re not too busy, I have done some more work on the tournament”

Sidney went to say that he would see her at training tonight, but Arthur pushed him out of the way and back to his flat.


	20. Twenty Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our couple get a surprise visit and it isn't all happiness

Charlotte and Sidney were mapping out the fixtures for the tournament, they were sat on the floor with sticky notes and marker pens and moving things around to make it work, when Sidney’s mobile rang. 

“Time for a break anyway” Charlotte said, getting up off the floor, retrieving the two mugs form the table and going to the kitchen for a refill. 

“Hello” Sidney said, answering his phone.  
“We are in the car park at the beach in Sanditon, give us directions!” Crowe said   
“What?” Sidney said, “Why?”  
“Directions not questions” he replied.  
“Fine” he sighed “out of the car park, second left, ground floor flat number 7”  
“My lucky number” Crowe said and cut the call off.

“Why are you giving someone directions to my flat?” Charlotte asked as he came back into the room, hearing the tail end of the call. “You are in flat 9”  
“Crowe, I don’t know why he’s here”  
“Fair enough, I guess you will soon find out, I am assuming you gave my flat as you are here now and too lazy to walk home”  
“Correct”   
“Then I had better tidy up the mess from the floor” Charlotte said, starting to gather up pieces of paper and the likes. 

The door knocked a few minutes later and Charlotte went to answer it, she was surprised to see he had endeavoured on a road trip to Sanditon, Crowe greeted her with an overly friendly hug, accidentally brushing his hand on her bottom, then apologising with a wink, Babington a more natural hug and introduced her to ‘Elbows’ and ‘Robber’ who she had met at the match Sunday, though had not caught their names. 

“What are you lot doing here?” Sidney asked in surprise.  
“Charlie here said there is beach volleyball on a Wednesday, which of course, is an open invitation to visit” Crowe said,  
Charlotte covered her face with her hands.  
“You cannot be serious?” Sidney asked, still not quite believing they had all travelled down.  
“Ever so” Robber said. 

“Starts in an hour” Charlotte said, “do you want tea or coffee before you go?”  
“No, but I will be bold and ask if I can take you for a drink afterwards”  
“Well, I am not supposed to drink with the anti-inflammatory medication, but as I haven’t been asked to go out for a very long time, how can I refuse”  
“Then we will all go” Sidney cut in, feeling his chest tighten and a fury inside him.

“I think we should leave now” Sidney suddenly suggested “Get an ice cream or something before it starts”  
“Good idea” Elbows said.   
Charlotte got her flip flops on and found her keys, tucking a £10 note in her bra for safety, they all piled out of the flat.  
“So that is not your flat” Robbers said to Sidney as they walked,   
“No, I am next door, but we were working in Charlottes”

“So where do the nicknames come from then?” Charlotte asked Elbows as he flanked her with Crowe the other side, offering his arm for her to hold, but she declined.  
“Well, as you can see, I am a bit shorter than the rest, but in a tackle, somehow my elbows tend to get in the way, catching people’s ribs and stuff and Robber, well his name is Rob, but he has quick feet, he’ll rob the ball from you before you can blink, it’s quite a thing to watch”  
Charlotte laughed “I can’t argue with that”  
“So, why has no one asked you on a date or for a drink Charlotte?” Crowe asked intrigued.  
“As your boy Parker says, I am one of the lads, not dating material”  
Crowe turned and shot Sidney a look.

“What is that about?” Babington asked  
“No idea” Sidney said, angrily, but I swear I am going to punch him in the face before the end of the night”  
“Are you really?” Babington said sternly, “You my friend are supposed to be sorting your behaviour and being a good boy”  
“Seems like jealousy to me Parker” Robbers said   
“If you haven’t asked the girl out, then you can’t knock Crowe for asking, maybe she just agreed like she said, because no one has asked for a long-time, not because she sees herself dating him.” Babington said  
“He is not dating material, he came here for the naked girls playing volleyball, he’s a player” Sidney snapped.  
“But he had the balls to ask, if you like her, you should have got in first” Babington said. Sidney did not respond too angry to speak. 

“What can I get you Charl?” Elbows asked as they stood at the counter of the ice-cream shop on the front  
“I’ll get my own, thanks” she replied.   
“Nonsense, a gentleman always offers to treat a LADY” he said, emphasising the last word and looking at Sidney.

Sidney had no idea what the dig was, but he felt like he was the target of something.

“Raspberry Ripple then please, if you’re sure” she said  
“You bastards can buy your own” he said to the others before turning round and politely ordering two ice creams from the lady behind the counter, with a smile. 

“How is it going?” Crowe whispered to Babington as he stood next to him.  
“On target, he is more jealous that you could believe, it is bubbling inside of him” Babington whispered back.  
“Good, pair of them need their heads banging together”  
“Yes, what's the lady dig about, that’s got him riled too”  
“Charlie says our boy Parker said she’s one of the lads, not dating material”  
“WHAT!” Babington exclaimed, a little too loud and everyone turned to face him. Babington, panicked and said loudly “Can you believe Crowe said that Mint choc chip is the worst flavour” 

Crowe laughed and the others all started making their defence for and against the flavour, detracting from the original conversation. 

As they walked onto the beach, Sidney caught up with Charlotte,   
“Look, I don’t want to interfere, but you have to know that Crowe is a womaniser, he just wants what he can get from you” he said  
“Thank you for your concern Parker, but I think I can hold my own”  
“I will stay close by, you can’t fight him off with your bad shoulder and I know how he can be touching women, I got your back, ok”   
“As I said, I can hold my own and if this is just because you are jealous, you could have asked me for a drink, which is all it is, a drink, in a pub, oh and remember, if he turns up at my door wanting more, YOU gave him my address”

Sidney stopped in his tracks, his mind racing, Crowe wouldn’t do that would he? He’ll sleep with most willing participants, but if she isn’t willing, then surely, he wouldn’t cross a line?   
Elbows called out to him, distracting him from his thoughts.   
“Coming” Sidney shouted as he picked up pace to catch them up. 

As promised, a selection of ladies, most in shorts and bikini tops were setting up their net for volleyball practice.  
“Hi Charlotte” of them called out to her.  
“Hey, I brought some friends to watch you practice” she said,  
The girl walked over to meet them “Been trying to talk our girl into playing for months, but she’s a footy girl, your true Tomboy, surprised she hasn’t shaved her head yet to fit in more with you guys. They all laughed except Crowe and Charlotte, Charlotte smiled and made a flippant comment about it being on her to-do list. Crowe wondered if Sidney knew the truth behind what he had said, and that others thought that way of her too. He was happy to take her however she was comfortable, but to assume she wouldn’t be hurt by a comment like that was real and would encourage her to not feel like she deserved happiness. 

The boys took it in turns joining in practice to learn the rules then took on a boy against girls’ game at the end, before they all headed off to the pub, inviting the girls too. 

“That was fun” Babington said to Charlotte, “I am sorry you couldn’t join in, how is the shoulder”  
“Bearing up, Arthur says it’s not too concerning, and I should recover if I look after myself, I am glad you enjoyed it, sometimes you focus so much on the sport you play, that you lose the fun side of it, it can be good to try something else every now and then.”  
“You should seriously consider taking Harry up on his offer, I think you have a lot to offer, even if you only make us play the odd volleyball session to bring some fun back”  
“I can’t take up the post, for reasons you don’t need to worry about” she said looking over toward Sidney, “but when I can drive again, I will compromise and come and take a few odd sessions, including volleyball and yoga and stuff”  
“Don’t let that miserable git put you off a job you really want or deserve”  
“I don’t deserve anything, when I tried, it got snatched away, this is my lot, a few good friends and a bed to sleep in, I make do here and after losing everything, I wouldn’t want Sidney to walk away from his team because my presence would make his life so unbearable”  
“Talk to him, maybe you can compromise?”  
“I just compromised with you, guest sessions” she smiled and kissed his cheek “Thanks for the chat though”

“Looks like Crowe has been waylaid by the volleyball ladies, I guess it’s my treat to buy you a drink” Babington said as they got to the bar  
“I’m good. I can take care of myself, why don’t you go and get chatting, I am sure I saw Sarah giving you the eye”  
“My heart belongs to someone else”  
“Ah yes, my old team mate, Esther”  
“Indeed, I will win her over if it kills me, she’s definitely thawing to me” he said with a smile,   
“I promise to put a good word in for you” she said warmly, and Babington bought her a drink anyway and they walked over to sit wither side of Sidney in the corner of the pub with the others on the tables next to them.


	21. Twenty One

The landlord had to ask them all to leave come closing time and not one of the men was capable of driving back to London.   
“What are you all going to do now?” Charlotte asked as they swayed through the street, singing badly and laughing.   
“Parker’s floor” Elbows said.  
“I suppose I could offer my sofa, if you behave” Charlotte said.  
“No way” Sidney said, being serious for a second “None of these sleezy bastards are sleeping in your flat, I will take your sofa, they can have my flat”   
Charlotte nodded “Well at least I have dealt with you drunk before and you were worse than you are today”

Charlotte had had a good night, she had laughed more than she had in a long time, they had all asked her to join them at the club and to go for drinks with them again. Sidney let the boys into his flat and walked next door with Charlotte.  
“I’ll make you a coffee before we go to bed” Charlotte said  
“I like the sound of that” Sidney replied  
“Coffee”  
“No, us going to bed”  
“Separately” Charlotte sad.   
“Spoilt sport, you slept in bed with me before, why not now?”  
“You were sober, you did it out of kindness, not because you want a drunken leg over”  
“I’ll take the sofa then” he said, with a sigh, walking into the lounge. 

Charlotte made coffee and walked through to the lounge, sitting next to him on the sofa.   
“Thanks for tonight, I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.” She said  
“Technically not me who’s due the thanks, it was Crowe who asked you”  
“I know, but it was you and Babington who stayed with me when his eyes took him elsewhere, until the ladies left”  
“Yes, I haven’t seen you that happy since I met you”  
“Well, you’ll have to try harder then, won’t you” she said, 

Charlotte got up and went to the bedroom, she took a blanket from the cupboard and returned to the lounge. Sidney had just finished his coffee and was taking the cups out to the kitchen.  
Charlotte took her phone from her pocket and took a photo of him.   
“What’s that about?” Sidney asked catching her.  
“Proof of the domesticated Sidney, never know when it might come in useful.”  
“Cheeky” he said.  
“Now I only have one clean blanket and it is a thin one, so do you want this one or can you promise to keep on your own side if I let you share the bed?”  
“Promise, especially if it is warmer than that blanket” he said and he stepped forward and hugged her, kissing her cheek as a thank you. 

Charlotte was up early and out for a walk by six in the morning, she wished so much that she hadn’t let Sidney sleep in her bed, he snores when he is drunk, so she had to go out before she put a pillow over his face. 

Charlotte walked along the beach, the sun was coming up and there was a chill in the air, it looked like it might rain, she wished she had brought a coat instead of just a cardigan. She had just reached the point of turnaround when the rain started, she sighed, there was no point running, she would be wet whichever way. As she walked the rain got heavier. 

Sidney awoke to the noise of rain beating against the windows. Charlotte wasn’t in the bed, he got up, she wasn’t anywhere. Sidney reached for his phone; it was almost dead, but he rang her.

“Where are you? Are you ok?” he said when she answered  
“Came for a walk on the beach, you were snoring” she said and then it went dead.

“Cheeky bugger, hanging up on me” she said, putting her phone back in her pocket. 

Sidney didn’t have a coat in her flat, but he found an umbrella by the front door and her coat was still hanging there so she obviously hadn’t taken one. Sidney quickly drank a glass of water then headed out of the door.  
“I am getting too old for this drinking lark” he said as he put the umbrella up and walked toward the beach. 

Charlotte was soaked through by the time Sidney reached her, she said it wasn’t worth putting her coat on, though she was shivering, so Sidney just pulled her close and sheltered her with the umbrella.

“You didn’t have to come” she said  
“I wanted to”   
“I don’t want you to go on the transfer list”  
“We can talk about it later, you’re freezing, let’s just get you home”

When they arrived back, Sidney walked straight into her bathroom and put the shower on.  
“Get in, warm up, I’ll make the tea” he said.  
“Do you know how?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.  
“Google!”   
“Splash of milk, no sugar if it’s tea, one sugar if its coffee” she said and she disappeared into the bathroom. 

“Sorry I kept you awake” Sidney said as she walked into the lounge, showered and warm in a pair of jogging bottoms and a sweatshirt.  
“It’s ok, next time, you get the sofa” she said, with a smile.  
“I am starving” he said, “Do you want something if I go and get something”  
“Save your money” she said, “you never know when things will take a turn for the worse and you will be grateful knowing there is money for your next meal” 

She disappeared into the kitchen and made some toast and cut a grapefruit in half.  
“It’s not much but it’s something” she said on her return.  
“Why are you nice to me, even though I have not been the nicest to you, though not always intentionally bad”  
“It’s who I am” she said picking up a slice of toast and sitting with him on the sofa. 

Sidney couldn’t speak. Charlotte often left him speechless, she said such simple things that made him think. He had no idea of what she had been through, so when she made a little comment, something she took for granted, it was sobering for him, made him really think not only about himself, but his own life too. Was he living his best life and was he truly happy?

They ate in silence. It was still early, the outdoor circuits would be moving to the gym this afternoon, charlotte wanted to take him over to see it as he missed last week, sulking.   
She sat back in the chair and leaned against Sidney’s shoulder, instinctively, he put an arm around her, and she didn’t fight him, he felt that familiar heaviness of her falling asleep on him. He liked it, he sat for half an hour just holding her, then gently moved her onto her cushion as he heard the boys next door start to get up and about. Unlike Charlotte, he had very little in his cupboards for them to feast on, but he did have tea and coffee for them. His phone was also still dead. He went to Charlotte’s pile of papers on the table and picked up the pad of sticky notes.

“Gone next door to sort the boys out, come get me when you’re ready. S x”

Sidney let himself into his flat, the boys were drinking coffee and looking through his cupboards.  
“Missing Maria here mate” Robbers said,   
“Oh yes,” Said Crowe “She makes a mean breakfast”  
“Did you sleep on the sofa?” Babington asked  
“Of course, I am a true gentleman” Sidney said  
“Maybe a bit too much, we can all see how much you like her, what are you waiting for?” Crowe said  
“Because if she takes the coaching job, I won’t be able to stay at the club as well if anything happens and if you thought I liked her, how come you asked her out”  
“Easy, to make you jealous, so you would do something about it”  
“Maybe you should talk to her about the job?” Elbows said.  
“We shall see, she’s different, I don’t want to hurt her, so I am being careful. Now that’s the end of this, you lot had better get on the road or you’ll be late for this afternoon training”

They said their farewells, and all got back in the car, Sidney put his phone on to charge and jumped in the shower. He knew she wanted to take him somewhere this afternoon and they needed to finish the plan they were working on yesterday, then they had to find a game plan for Saturday, the team she said were the ones to beat for the kids.

Sidney thought about what the boys had said, was it really that obvious that he liked her? Did she really like him? She hinted at it and flirted with him sometimes, she was comfortable to share her bed, or to fall asleep on him, but when they got too close, she backed off a little. He knew she had been let down by so many people, he needed to be careful, to move gently and gain her trust, but he really wanted to kiss her again and to go back over and hold her while she slept on his chest again. He had never felt comfortable like that before. 

Charlotte called over to see him.   
“I have to pop to the shop, top up on bread and milk, so when I get back, we can go over to the gym, I hope you have a coat and waterproof shoes”  
“Why don’t we go in the car?” he said  
“Because I don’t have a car at the moment, I have to wait until my shoulder heals more”  
“I can drive”  
“I don’t need charity”  
“I am not offering charity Charlotte, I am offering to drive you to the shop, then to the gym so that we both don’t get wet, it’s a simple thing, why can’t you just accept it” he snapped.

Charlotte could feel herself closing off again, but this time Sidney could see it too. He moved to stand closer to her.   
“Charlotte, I am sorry that I snapped. But I am offering you a lift in the car, I am not trying to give you the car. What will it take for you to start to trust me?”

Charlotte crossed her arms as a barrier, she turned and looked away from him. He sensed she was getting upset or frustrated and he wanted to be patient with her. He walked closer again and put his arms around her. She did not move, her arms stayed crossed, but her head leaned in to him gently.  
“Ok, but only because it’s raining.” She said  
“Good, actually, call it a trade, I need a hand with something anyway, so you get a lift in exchange”  
“Ok” she said, moving her arms down to her sides. 

Sidney picked up his coat and keys, checked his phone, it was almost fully charged so that would do.   
He drove to the supermarket, picked up a basket and they walked in together.  
“Now, I want to cook something nice tonight for you, something I found on the internet that looks straight forward for beginners, but I need help with the shopping please”  
“Do you have a list?” she asked, Sidney showed her his phone,   
“My favourite, and definitely easy to follow, it was one of the first things I learned to make too, big enough for two or three portions, you can freeze it then for another day, saves money.” 

Once they had gathered all of their supplies, they headed to the gym, Sidney was to meet with Jack and they would watch the circuit class, then Charlotte had to meet with James for the physio session that Arthur had instructed. 

James was already there when they arrived, he greeted Charlotte with a hug and nodded to Sidney,   
“Am I being replaced?” James asked when he saw her  
“Of course not, what makes you say that?”  
“Spending a lot of time with him, Arthur ringing me with a new plan”   
“I fell on the beach, you know what Harry is like, wanted me to see Arthur for a quick x-ray” she lied

Back at the flat, Charlotte stood in the kitchen with Sidney watching him work through his recipe, giving him pointers along the way. The smell was divine as he pulled his first cottage pie out of the oven and he grinned with pride as he put in onto the plate with the vegetables Charlotte had prepared, one step at a time she had told him. 

It was almost eight when Charlotte went back to her flat, she was shocked to see Georgiana sat outside her flat. Sidney saw her as he stood on the door.   
“Do you want me to come in?” he asked.  
“No, but I won’t lock the door. I’ll call out if I need you” Charlotte said, she turned and kissed Sidney on the cheek and whispered. “You don’t think Otis is in the car to ambush me do you”  
“He wouldn’t dare, he may be a lot of things, but as a lawyer on bail, he wouldn’t dare” 

Charlotte nodded and left, Georgiana greeted Charlotte and tried to hug her, but Charlotte put her hands out to stop her. Sidney winced, wanting to go and rescue her, worrying about her shoulder. He watched them both go inside and then he went back in. He went straight to the patio doors and opened them wide, despite the rain, he heard her slide hers open, she was stood by the doors, he heard her tell Georgiana to take a seat.

“What do you want George?”  
“You won’t speak to me on the phone, I had to drive all the way here”  
“I am sure you didn’t come just to see me”  
“Well, I had a meeting with a client about eight miles from here”  
“And you thought I might let you stay, save you driving back to Guildford”  
“Will you?”  
“No, you made your choice, you can go back to Otis”  
“He isn’t guilty, he was set up by Edward, he told me that and I believe him”  
“Yet the police don’t and when they spoke to Howard, he ID Otis as the person who owed him money.”  
“It is all lies; they are in it together”  
“The police have a lot of evidence”  
“Why don’t you believe him?”

“Where did you meet Otis?”  
“At a charity dinner”  
“Did he know we were friends?”  
“Of course not, he asked me for a date that night, but I said I was going to see you at the hospital, and he asked all about you because he is a kind person”  
“Or he knew what he had done, seen pictures of us at events and targeted you, wanted to know all the details to see if he was about to be caught”  
“He wasn’t driving though so it’s not his fault and he wouldn’t be that calculated”  
“My life changed completely, and no one wants anyone brought to justice, and the people I thought cared, were partly to blame, so now I have no one, not a single soul who cares enough not to lie to me, or who wants me just because I am a good person”  
“You still have me Charlie, but you have to accept Otis too, we are a package. Plus, you seem pretty friendly with the boy next door and you have Harry and James”  
“I won’t accept you if Otis is part of the package, so you can take you bag and leave. I am friendly with the boy next door, and Harry, but I have to hurt one of them to save the other and James is a physio, employed by Harry, that is all.”  
“You really want me to go? Our friendship is really over”  
“It really is” Charlotte said, turning to face out of the door to the sea. George stood and paused for a moment, but she could see that Charlotte was not going to change her mind, so she turned and walked away. 

Sidney came out of the door to the fence.  
“Are you ok?” he asked   
“I will be”  
“Want to talk?”   
“No, I am just going to bed”  
“I’ll keep my phone on loud, I’m here any time of the day or night”  
“Thank you” she said and shut the door. 

Sidney really wanted to ask what she meant by hurting him or Harry to save the other, but now wasn’t the time.


	22. Twenty Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Warning, this is an Eliza chapter, I am sorry, I know they have been through enough**

ey called on Charlotte Saturday morning for the match, the team who had never lost. Charlotte was nervous, but Sidney seemed pretty confident that they could win or at least draw. That would still be enough to dent their pride. 

Sidney took charge on the warm up again, though this time, the other team were not so keen on joining in. These were a serious bunch of kids, and parents, Charlotte noted and this time, they were the away team.

The team had just kicked off when a tall, elegant looking blonde lady appeared next to them.  
“Sidney Parker, I thought that was you” she said, in her silky-smooth voice. Sidney turned to see who it was, though he knew.  
“Mrs Campion, how surprising to see you here”  
“That is my son, the blonde lad with the ball now, of course, he is too good for this Saturday league, I hope to have him signed to an academy by the end of the season, maybe you could put a good word in for him with your club”  
“I don’t have anything to do with the academy sorry”  
“Tell them I am willing to put in a large donation for his place”  
“The academy goes purely on talent, so if he is picked up by a scout then he will get a shot, there’s nothing I can do” 

Sidney was desperate to get rid of her, so that he could watch the game, when just on cue, her precious son, kicked one of the Sanditon players and knocked him to the ground. The referee blew the whistle and Charlotte ran over to check on the child.   
“Excuse me, it seems your son has fouled one of our players, I have to go” he said and ran over to where Charlotte was. The boy was ok and eager to get back on.

“Have you seen their team, they are viscous, it’s all kicks and elbows, not true playing of the game” Charlotte said.   
“That doesn’t surprise me, knowing that Mrs Campion is involved” Sidney said as they walked back  
“Who is she?” Charlotte asked  
“Do you remember when Maria said that you are not Eliza, well that is Eliza”  
“Oh,”  
“Oh, indeed, desperate to be a footballer’s wife and didn’t care which footballer. I thought we had a future together, young and blind, but she soon passed me over for a richer player, slightly older player”  
“I’m sorry”  
“I was at too at the time, she broke my heart, I swore I would never get serious again for as long as I had a career,”  
“I understand” Charlotte said. 

Mrs Campion’s little superstar, fouled another of the Sanditon players and she clapped for him, shouting well done. Charlotte was furious as was the mother of the boy, who had blood running from his eyebrow. This time the referee sent him off, Eliza stormed over to speak to the referee, who proclaimed loudly that he did not take cash bribes to keep a player on the pitch. Sidney carried the lad to the side, while Charlotte got one of her substitutes ready for the second half. 

“Look, I don’t ever condone violence on the pitch, but let me tell you, if they push you, you can push them back, or you shout in pain to make sure someone sees. Let’s not let them get away with this” Charlotte said. The children all nodded. Sidney watched as Eliza stormed off back to her car with her son, while he waited with the parent of the boy with the cut eye, while the first aider fixed it. 

Charlotte checked her watch, there was just two minutes until the whistle, when out of nowhere Sanditon scored. The cheers erupted from all of the children and the parents and Charlotte shouted at them to keep their eye on the ball until the final whistle sounded, then they could celebrate. 

They ended the official season with a proud win. They had a two-week break of matches before the big tournament, but training would resume as normal. 

Sidney and Charlotte were relieved as they went back to the car.  
“I am glad you didn’t’ marry her” Charlotte said as they were driving, “She was horrid, you would be even more insufferable than you were when we first met”  
“It was a lucky escape” Sidney said. “Can I ask you something?”   
“Sure, I won’t promise to answer thought”  
“Ok, I should start by saying I wasn’t listening to be nosey; I was listening to check you were ok”  
“Go on,” Charlotte said  
“I heard you say to Georgiana the other night, that you would have to hurt me or Harry in order to save the other”  
“Oh that. Yes, it is true, but that is a statement not a question”  
“Why do you have to hurt one of us and which one of us needs saving?”

Charlotte took a deep breath before answering,   
“Actually, it is already done, I emailed Harry on Monday. I told him that I knew how hard it was for me to lose my career that I loved, and I would not wish that on anyone else. I knew you were looking to transfer because you hated me so much you couldn’t bear for me to take the coaching job, so I declined. I hurt Harry to save you. Now don’t try talking me out of it, I have a good life here in Sanditon, even if I cannot find someone to do the tennis for the school yet”  
“I have sorted that” Sidney said  
“Really?” Charlotte replied, not allowing Sidney to say any more.   
“Yes, he’s coming to meet us Monday, I meant to tell you yesterday, but after George’s visit, you were not very available for conversations”  
“I am trying to be better” she said, and he smiled.  
“Me too” he replied. 

They parked outside the house flats and both got out.   
“Are you coming in for some lunch?” Charlotte asked  
“I am not” Sidney replied.  
“Ok, have a good afternoon” she said  
“That depends on you”  
“How so?”  
“Because instead of coming in for lunch, I am wondering if you would like to go out with me for lunch?”  
“Oh, that would be nice, where to? Do I need to change?”  
“Yes, we are going to that pub on the road in that won that award for best pub food, no shorts for today”   
“Ok, I’ll meet you back here in half an hour then, is that enough time for you?” she asked.  
“Me? It’s you women who take the longest to get ready!”  
“Really, shower brush through the hair, tie it up, shorts, t-shirt, trainers I am good to go, whereas you, shower, hair gel and spray”  
“It’s wax”  
“Shave, shorts, decide on a matching t-shirt, check yourself in the mirror twice, pick a pair of matching shoes to your shorts”  
“Ok, you made your point, half an hour is good” he said

Sidney was dressed in pale colour chinos and a smart shirt, which he had ironed himself for the first time, he sprayed his favourite cologne on hoping to make a good impression. Charlotte came out and she looked so very different, he thought. Her hair was halfway down her back in beautiful bouncy curls, she was wearing a pretty pale blue summer dress and sandals, she had a small barely noticeable amount of makeup on and shiny lip gloss.   
“Wow, you look lovely” he said, holding the car door for her  
“Thank you, you don’t look too bad yourself” 

The restaurant was fairly busy as expected for a Saturday lunch, but they had a table that would be available in fifteen minutes if they wanted to have a drink in the bar first, they agreed and left their name for when it was free.   
“What would you like?” he asked,   
“Well, as you can’t drink because you drove, I shall be equally as fair and have a cola”  
“You can have a drink if you want, what about a glass of wine?”  
“One then, white, not the dry one” she said, Sidney ordered the drinks and Charlotte found a small table by the window.   
“It is such a lovely view” Charlotte said,   
“It is” Sidney agreed and took a sip of his cola. “Can I tell you something?”  
“Sure, unless it is that you forgot your wallet and I’m paying for everything” she laughed.

“No, I asked you out, therefore I am paying” he said. “The reason I was looking to go on the transfer list, is not because I hate you and wanted to get away, it is because I like you and didn’t want to ruin my chances of a date or more, I wanted you to have an opportunity of a new dream with the coaching, you are so good at it and it brings you joy”  
“You were prepared to sacrifice your team for me?”  
“Yes, just the way you were prepared to give up the coaching for me”  
“But no one has ever done something like that for me before”  
“I know, I didn’t want to scare you off, I wanted to smash Crowe in the face when he asked you out”  
“He soon got distracted, but I just fancied a break, a couple of hours in the pub, I would have agreed to any one of you asking”

“That kiss last weekend at the match” Sidney said,  
“Yes, I am sorry about that, it was the atmosphere, the excitement, I got carried away”  
“Would you be upset if it happened again?”  
“Between us?”  
“Of course, who else?”  
“But why would it happen between us again? Like you said, I am just like one of the lads, I am not dating material”  
“I didn’t say you weren’t dating material, I just said you were like one of the lads, I am comfortable around you, but you still have moments, like sleeping in my arms, being so beautiful today, laughing in the pub and that truly happy smile, those moments take my breath away”

Charlotte blushed, she wanted to tell him to shut up, but he looked so genuine that she didn’t want to hurt him. So, after a minute to think, she leaned over and kissed him on the lips, nothing more just their lips touching, and she sat back down. That was enough for now, Sidney smiled, his heart swelled, and he put his hand on hers, they shared a smile, then their names were called to go to the table, Sidney carried the drinks and followed Charlotte and the waitress to the table. 

They had an enjoyable afternoon, complete with ice cream on the beach when they got back, then Sidney went to Charlotte’s for another glass of wine on the decking.   
“Will you stay tonight?” Charlotte asked  
“If that is what you want”  
“No funny business, nothing like that, just some company, today has been lovely and I have truly felt like someone cares, I know it won’t last forever, and that is not a reflection on you, it is just a fact that everyone moves on, but I just want to sleep next to you and hold this feeling for a little while longer”  
“I am not going anywhere”  
“Please Sidney, don’t make promises you cannot keep, neither of us knows what is around the corner, and we both know how quickly something wonderful can be snatched away, I cannot hear you say those words, but for tonight in the words of Kenny Rogers and Sheena Easton – We’ve got tonight, who needs tomorrow, we’ve got tonight babe, why don’t you stay?” Charlotte sang the words from the song and Sidney melted a little more.

They watched the sunset together on the patio with another glass of wine, then as it started getting colder, Sidney insisted she go in and stay warm, Charlotte had a small television fixed on her bedroom wall, so they decided to stay warm in bed and watch something. Sidney gave in and put on a romantic comedy and they made tea and toast together, to take with them and a couple of hours later, just as she wanted, Charlotte and Sidney fell asleep together after a passionate goodnight kiss.


End file.
